The Abuja division of the Federal High Court has affirmed the final forfeiture to the federal government a sum of $13 million linked to a Lagos socialite, Ms Aisha Achimugu and her Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd.
Justice Emeka Nwite in his judgment yesterday, held that the huge foreign currency has been well established by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to be proceeds of fraud and unlawful activities.
Justice Nwite held that the plaintiff, Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd laying claim to the sum failed to establish how it came about the money.
Rather, the judge said that the EFCC satisfied all requirements for the fund to be classified as proceeds of fraud and to be Forfeited to the appropriate authority.
Accordingly, the court dismissed the claims that the $13 million was gifts received into the Oceangate Engineering Company by Aisha Achimugu.
It added that the said Aisha never came to the court to show cause on why the huge fund should not be forfeited to the federal government.
Justice Nwite said that no single person who gave the monetary gift to Aisha Achimugu to the tune of $13 million was called to testify.
The judge held that the burden to establish genuine ownership of the money was not established by the applicant to counter the claims of the anti- graft agency that the money was a proceeds of fraud based on its investigation.
According to the judge, Oceangate Engineering Company did not show the business it undertook that fetched it the money and did not also show whether any payment was made to it by of its customer.
Justice Nwite had on August 22, 2025, granted the anti-graft agency’s motion ex-parte for an interim order forfeiting the sum of $13 million linked to Oceangate Ltd to the federal government over allegations that the fund was a proceed of unlawful activity.
The judge had then directed the commission to publish the order in a national daily for interested person(s) to show cause within 14 days why the fund should not be permanently forfeited to the federal government.
The EFCC investigator, Usman Aliyu, had sworn to an affidavit filed in support of EFCC’s application, stating that the commission received a credible intelligence report alleging that a company known as Oceangate Engineering Limited, without following due process, used funds reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity to acquire oil blocks from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
Aliyu said their investigation revealed that Oceangate, a limited liability company, was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) on 25 February 2005 with number: RC 617736.
He said in 2024, Oceangate participated in an oil block licensing bid for deep offshore PPL302 and shallow water- PPL 3007.
He said upon completion of technical and commercial bid, NUPRC notified the company of its winning bidder status and the condition precedent to be fulfilled before issuance of a licence to the company.
Aliyu said it was discovered that the total financial obligations of Oceangate Ltd to the government before the issuance of the Petroleum Prospecting License (PPL) to the company was $37.2 million ($37, 223,144).
He said the company, through its Zenith Bank account number: 5074678281, at different installments, transferred millions of dollars to the federal government, in tranches: $1.1 million, $1.1 million, $3.8 million, $1.2 million, $3.05 million, $2.1 million, and $500, 000.
The investigator said that on 27 and 28 March 2025, Providus Bank Limited, acting for and on behalf of Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited, transferred the total sum of $7 million to the federal government.
He said his team recovered the evidence of these transactions through Providus Bank Limited from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through a letter dated June 24,02025.
He said the company between 20 March 2025 and 3 April 2025, paid the total sum of $20 million to the federal government for the acquisition of the PPL 302 and PPL 3007.
The officer alleged that to fulfil the requirements for payments of the signature bonuses for PPL 302 and PPL 3007, Oceangate conspired with some unlicensed Bureau de Change (BDC) operators and bank officials to retain and transfer funds totalling $13 million which funds are reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.
However, Oceangate, in its affidavit to show cause sworn by one of the company’s directors, Iliya Wakil, said it came to his knowledge that the court made an order of interim forfeiture of the company’s $13 million used to pay for the signature bonuses of Deep Offshore PPL 302 and Shallow Water PPL 3007 between 20 March 2025 and 3 April 2025.
The company official prayed the court not to make the order of final forfeiture of the funds because all the funds were derived partly from legitimate earnings of the company and partly gifts given to the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Company, Aisha Achimugu.
He maintained that the company did not conspire with any unregistered BDC operators and bank officials to retain and transfer the sum or any sum of money whatsoever which had anything to do with unlawful activity.
He argued that Suleiman Chiroma referred to by the EFCC in its application for interim forfeiture is a licensed BDC agent engaged lawfully by the company to help it source the US dollars needed by the company to settle the signature bonuses of PPL 302 and PPL 3007 oil blocks respectively as same was required to be paid in dollars by the Nigerian government.
He stated that Mr Chiroma acted fully independently and without any form of control by Oceangate Limited.
The director said the company did not know Dantani Hassan or the company known as Ashrab Energy and Oil Services Limited.
Besides, he said Oceangate did not know one Tirmizi Usman and Tripple A & Tee Oil Nigeria Limited, adding that the company had never met, dealt with or transacted with any of the persons mentioned in paragraphs 15 and 16 of the EFCC’s affidavit in any manner and for any reason whatsoever.
He said Oceangate only relied fully and depended on the avowed expertise of
Mr Chiroma, a licensed BDC agent and believed that he followed the due process to source all the funds remitted to the company for the purpose of settling the signature bonuses as stated.
He said the entire naira swapped for the dollars came from legitimate sources, attaching the audited accounts of the company as exhibits.
Oceangate, in its motion on notice filed with the affidavit to show cause, sought an order setting aside the order of interim forfeiture of the $13 million which it claimed belong to it.
