Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, sitting in Maitama, Abuja, has fixed April 30, 2026, for ruling on the application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for final forfeiture of a property owned by the former Acting Accountant General of the Federation, Chukwunyere Anamekwe Nwabuoku.
At Tuesday’s proceedings, defence counsel, N.I Quakers, SAN, informed the court of an application seeking the setting aside of the interim forfeiture order, which the court granted on January 27, 2025, and another notice of preliminary objection, dated August 15, 2025, bordering on the jurisdiction of the court.
He prayed the court to discountenance the prosecution’s final forfeiture application on the ground that the said property is also part of the reason for which he is facing criminal trial in another court. He questioned the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the matter and prayed the court to set aside EFCC’s application.
In response, prosecution counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, made reference to a motion dated May 6, 2024, and filed on the same date, that sought the final forfeiture order. He stated that the said property was reasonably suspected to have been acquired with the proceeds of crimes.
The application, the prosecution noted, is supported by an eight-paragraph affidavit, written by Chinyelu Vivian Okpara, an operative of EFCC with attachments marked Exhibit EFCC 1 to EFCC 7. Relying on all the paragraphs in the affidavit, the prosecuting counsel urged the court to grant the application for the final forfeiture of the property.
Explaining further, the prosecution counsel said, “My lord, the respondent at the material time of these transactions was the Director of Finance in the Ministry of Defence. Funds were released strictly for military operations in fighting Boko haram, of which part of it was sent to the Ministry of Defence. Part of the funds were diverted using fictitious accounts up to the tune of N900 million.”
“My lord, from those funds, about N355 million went to the respondent, and it was sent through an account he nominated, belonging to his friend, M Davies Enterprises Ltd, and it was from that account that the property in question was purchased, and it is that property the defendant is currently living in. It was in the course of the investigation that the defendant, on his own, handed over the keys of the house to be forfeited, as well as refunded some of the funds. Surprisingly, when these proceedings commenced, he turned around to challenge the forfeiture of the property. We urge the court to grant the application,” he said.
Further in his argument, the prosecution counsel stated, “We also filed another affidavit on May 16, 2024. Again, we urge your lordship to grant this application,” he said.
Justice Umar adjourned the matter till April 30, 2026, for ruling on the applications and judgment.
The anti-graft agency is also prosecuting Nwabuoku on an amended nine-count charge of money laundering to the tune of N868, 465,000 (Eight Hundred and Sixty-eight Million, Four Hundred and Sixty-five Thousand Naira) before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
