High Court upholds ruling of final forfeiture of $13 million linked to AISHA ACHIMUGU

Thursday, March 26, 2026 - Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of $13 million to the Federal Government, funds linked to Lagos socialite Ms. Aisha Achimugu and her company, Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd.

In a judgment on Wednesday, Justice Nwite held that the foreign currency has been well established by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to be proceeds of fraud and unlawful activities.

Delivering judgment in a suit instituted by Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd to claim the fund, the judge held that the company failed woefully to establish how it came about the money.

On the contrary, Justice Nwite said the EFCC satisfied all requirements for the fund to be classified as proceeds of fraud and to be forfeited to the appropriate authority.

The judge dismissed the claims that the $13 million was gifts received by Oceangate Engineering Company through Aisha Achimugu, adding that the said Aisha Achimugu never came to the court to show cause on why the huge fund should not be forfeited to the Federal Government.

Justice Nwite also noted 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 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 any of its customers.

Justice Nwite had on 22 August 2025, granted the anti-graft agency’s ex-parte motion 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.

EFCC investigator, Usman Aliyu, swore to an affidavit filed in support of the 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 investigations 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 of $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 operators and bank officials to retain and transfer funds totalling $13 million which funds are reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.

The affidavit stated, “That one Suleiman Muhammed Chiroma was procured and aided by Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited to collect through his associates in cash and without going through a financial institution, both in Abuja and Lagos the total sum of $13,000,000.00.

“That whilst acting in concert with Oceangate Limited, Muhammed Chiroma engaged one Dantani Abubakar Hassan of Ashrab Energy and Oil Services Limited and one Tirmizi Muhammed Usman of Tripple A & Tee Oil Nigeria Limited, to collect the said $9 million in cash and without going through a financial Institution for the sole purpose of using same to pay for the signature bonuses of the two oil blocks allocated to Oceangate Oil and Gas Limited.”

Aliyu alleged that the company equally procured Chiroma, Tirmizi Usman and Dantani Hassan to receive funds reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities from different contractors with the Lagos State Government.

He said to receive and retain funds reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity from different contractors with Lagos State, Dantani Abubakar used his company, Ashrab Energy and Oil Services Limited, with account number 1229255048 domiciled in Zenith Bank Plc.

“That whilst still working in concert with Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited and Suleiman Chiroma, Dantani Abubakar used his company, Ashrab Energy and Oil Services Limited with account Number 1907084038 domiciled in Access Bank Plc to receive and retain the total sum of N855, 057, 560.00 from different contractors executing contracts for and on behalf of the Lagos State Government which sum reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity,” the investigator added.

He said the combined sum of N2, 455, 651, 560.00 received in both Zenith and Access Bank accounts of Ashrab Energy were converted to US dollars and subsequently transferred same to Oceangate’s Zenith Bank account for onward payment for the signature bonus of the two oil blocks – PPL 302 and PPL 3007 allocated to the company, among other averments.

Aliyu insisted that the $13 million used by Oceangate to pay for the Signature Bonuses in respect of PPL302 and PPL3007 were not proceeds of any lawful and legitimate business but rather represent funds reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.

According to him, part of the funds used by Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited to pay for the Signature bonuses in respect of PPL 302 & PPL 3007 was derived from the huge sum of money transferred by the Lagos State Government to the contractors for the execution of contracts for the benefit of the state.

The investigator alleged that there were never any contractual or business relationships between Oceangate and the contractors who transferred the aforementioned public funds to the account of the company.

He said the contractors, who transferred the aforementioned public funds to Oceangate, were neither investors, directors, nor shareholders in Oceangate.

But 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 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 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.

The company argued that the order was made by the court without requisite jurisdiction and against the principle of fair hearing.

But EFCC, in its reply to the affidavit to show cause filed by Oceangate, prayed the court to dismiss the application.

Aliyu, who also swore the affidavit on behalf of the commission, said the commission found that Iliya Wakil, who swore Oceangate’s affidavit to show cause, was a mere nominal director with no shareholding status of the company.

Besides, the investigator said Wakil was an employee of Felak Concept Group Limited, also owned by Achimugu, and incorporated on May 5, 2000.

He said Wakil admitted, in his extrajudicial statement to his team on 15 April 2025 that he had worked with Felak Concept from 2000 to date.

He said Wakil also admitted that he held so many positions, “among which are Manager Admin, General Manager Admin and Finance and presently Group General Manager Admin and Finance.’

He said Wakil also stated that he had consistently drawn his monthly salary from his known employer Felak Concept and WishWhich Koncept Limited.

He argued that there was no record of Wakil drawing a salary from Oceangate.

Besides, the officer said Wakil admitted in his extra-judicial statement that he got all his instructions from Achimugu, the GCEO, and he, in turn, gave the same instructions to Chiroma via telephone conversation.

Aliyu described Oceangate as “a briefcase/shell company created as a vehicle for the purpose of holding petroleum related assets procured with funds reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.”

“Hence, describing the company as ‘a professional oil and gas consortium, operating in diverse sectors of the oil and gas sectors of the Nigerian economy,’ is nothing but describing the devil as an angel of light,” Aliyu wrote.

He alleged that the modus operandi of Oceangate is to acquire “petroleum-related assets with tainted funds.”

The officer said the $13 million forfeited in the interim by the court to the federal government was not proceeds of any lawful, legitimate, provable, known and justifiable income of the company.

Aliyu also stated that Oceangate equally procured an auditor, Godwin Ukah, to prepare an audit report which was attached to its affidavit to show cause as exhibit.

He said Ukah was invited to the EFCC’s office after which he volunteered his extra-judicial statement and admitted that he did not see the various account statements of Oceangate when he prepared the audit report.

Besides, he said Ukah admitted that Oceangate had not actively earned from oil and gas exploration.

He said Ukah, who prepared the audit report attached as exhibit relied solely on a memorandum of understanding and not the financial books of Oceangate.

Aliyu said his team also invited Aisha Achimugu, the GCEO of Oceangate and she volunteered her extra-judicial statement.

According to him, Achimugu admitted in her extra-judicial statement that she has the most significant control of Oceangate Oil and Gas Limited.

He said the businesswoman equally admitted that “Oceangate Oil & Gas Limited does not do contract for now nor has it carried out any contract either in private or public sector”.

The investigator told the court that it would be in the interest of justice to forfeit the $13 million to the Federal Government, same having been reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.

The judge had, on 15 September 2025, ordered the final forfeiture of $7 million lodged in Providus Bank branch in Ikoyi, Lagos State, and recovered by the EFCC after nobody came forward to claim it.

A company, Felak Concept Group Limited, later issued a statement to dismiss reports linking its GCEO, Achimugu, and its subsidiary, Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Ltd, to the controversial $7 million cash transaction allegedly tied to Providus Bank.