The Federal High Court in Lagos, has ordered the immediate-past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele to forfeit the sum of $1,426,175.14 being ‘proceeds of crime’.
In a ruling on Tuesday, Jue 25, Justice Ayokunle Faji ordered the final forfeiture of the funds to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had filed an application seeking the final forfeiture, arguing that the funds were proceeds of unlawful activities by Emefiele. It earlier secured an interim order temporarily forfeiting the money.
The judge ordered the publication of the court order in the daily newspapers to give anyone interested in the funds to appear in court and show cause why it should not be permanently forfeited.
At the Tuesday hearing, counsel for the EFCC, Mrs Bilkisu Buhari-Bala, said the commission had complied with the publication order and no one had come forward to claim the money.
Buhari-Bala said investigation by the EFCC revealed that the ex-CBN governor received the dollars as kick-backs for approving forex allocation to multinational firms during the forex crisis in the country.
This is coming just days after the same court ordered the permanent forfeiture of choice properties worth N12.18bn from Emefiele.
