The Supreme Court has closed one of Nigeria’s most high-profile asset-recovery cases, restoring the final forfeiture of seven properties, $2.045 million in cash, and two share certificates linked to former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, a decisive win for the EFCC after nearly two years of legal battles.
Delivering a unanimous verdict on Friday, a five-member panel of the apex court led by Justice Ibrahim Saulawa set aside a Court of Appeal ruling that had nullified the forfeiture order and sent the matter back for retrial.
The judgment was read on behalf of the panel by Justice Mohammed Idris. With that pronouncement, the Supreme Court effectively closed the door on Emefiele’s years-long attempt to reclaim the disputed assets, restoring in full the position taken by the trial court.
The saga traces back to November 1, 2024, when Justice Deinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, granted the EFCC’s application for the final forfeiture of the assets, holding that they were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
The properties in question span some of Lagos’s most exclusive postcodes, Lekki Phase 1 and Ikoyi, as well as an industrial complex under construction in Agbor, Delta State.
Emefiele challenged that decision at the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division. In a split 2-1 ruling delivered in April 2025, the appellate court sided with him, with the majority holding that the trial court had not adequately scrutinized the evidence before ordering the sweeping forfeiture and that parties claiming ownership interests in some of the assets had not been given a fair hearing.
The appellate panel ordered the case back to the Federal High Court for a fresh trial, with evidence to be taken afresh from all interested parties.
Unwilling to let that outcome stand, the EFCC pushed the fight to the Supreme Court, arguing that the trial court’s findings were sound and that the appellate court had erred in disturbing them.
The case drew heavyweight representation on both sides. The appeal was argued on behalf of the EFCC by a legal team led by the former Attorney-General of the Federation, Kanu Agabi, SAN, with the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, also appearing. Emefiele, for his part, was represented by Olalekan Ojo and Labi Lawal, both Senior Advocates of Nigeria.
By setting aside the Court of Appeal’s decision, the Supreme Court has restored in its entirety the trial court’s November 2024 order, vesting in the federal government:
- Two fully detached duplexes at No. 17B Hakeem Odumosu Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos
- An undeveloped 1,919.592 sqm plot at Oyinkan Abayomi Drive (formerly Queens Drive), Ikoyi
- A bungalow at No. 65A, Oyinkan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi
- A four-bedroom duplex at 12A, Probyn Road, Ikoyi
- An industrial complex under construction on 22 plots in Agbor, Delta State
- Eight units of an undetached apartment complex at No. 8A, Adekunle Lawal Road, Ikoyi
- A full duplex on Bank Road, Ikoyi
Alongside the properties, $2.045 million in cash and two share certificates in Queensdorf Global Fund Limited Trust also revert permanently to the state.
The ruling lands against the backdrop of a string of asset-recovery cases that have trailed Emefiele since his exit as CBN Governor in 2023, amid allegations of abuse of office and financial misconduct.
It is also not the only forfeiture matter tied to him: a separate $1.4 million forfeiture order made by Justice Ayokunle Faji in March 2025 was similarly voided by the Court of Appeal in June 2025 on fair-hearing grounds before being remitted for retrial, a case that appears to be following a parallel track through the courts.
For the EFCC, Friday’s decision is being framed as a landmark affirmation of its powers to pursue and permanently confiscate assets suspected to be proceeds of crime, without the process being derailed by procedural challenges at the appellate level.
For Emefiele, it marks the effective exhaustion of his legal options over these specific assets, barring any fresh proceedings his lawyers may yet attempt to mount on other grounds.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
The Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling permanently returns Godwin Emefiele’s seven Ikoyi and Lekki properties, $2.045 million in cash, and Queensdorf shares to the federal government, overturning the Court of Appeal’s retrial order and closing the case for good.
This is now final. Emefiele has no further avenue to reclaim these specific assets, and the judgment stands as a strong precedent affirming the EFCC’s power to secure and retain forfeited assets without appellate reversal on procedural grounds.
