Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja, on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, granted an order of final forfeiture of the sum of $13 million linked to businesswoman Aisha Achimugu and her company, Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had brought Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd before the court over the ownership of the $13 million, suspected to be proceeds of fraud and unlawful activities.
Delivering judgment in a suit instituted by Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd to claim the funds, Justice Nwite held that the company failed woefully to establish how it came into possession of the money. He, however, stressed that the EFCC succeeded in convincing the court that the funds were proceeds of fraud and should be forfeited to the government.
The judge dismissed claims that the $13 million constituted gifts received by the company through Aisha Achimugu, noting that she never appeared in court to show cause why the funds should not be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Additionally, Justice Nwite stated that no individual who allegedly gave monetary gifts to Achimugu—amounting to $13 million—was called to testify.
The court held that the burden of proving legitimate ownership of the funds was not discharged by the applicant to counter the EFCC’s claim that the money was proceeds of fraud based on its investigation.
According to the judge, Oceangate Engineering did not demonstrate any business activity that generated the funds, nor did it show evidence of payments from any customer.
Justice Nwite had earlier, on August 22, 2025, granted the EFCC an interim forfeiture order on the $13 million linked to Oceangate. He also directed the commission to publish the order in a national daily, inviting interested parties to show cause within 14 days why the funds should not be permanently forfeited to the government.
Justifying the forfeiture, EFCC investigator Usman Aliyu swore to an affidavit stating that the commission acted on intelligence indicating that Oceangate Engineering Limited, without 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 maintained that the $13 million used by Oceangate to pay signature bonuses for PPL 302 and PPL 3007 were not proceeds of any lawful business but rather funds suspected to be derived from unlawful activities.
He further stated that part of the funds used by Oceangate to pay the signature bonuses was sourced from large sums transferred by a state government to contractors for the execution of projects.
The investigator alleged that there were no contractual or business relationships between Oceangate and the contractors who transferred the public funds into the company’s account.
He added that the contractors were neither investors, directors, nor shareholders in Oceangate.
However, in its affidavit, Oceangate urged the court not to grant the final forfeiture order, arguing that the funds were derived partly from legitimate business earnings and partly from gifts given to its Group Chief Executive Officer, Aisha Achimugu.
In response, the EFCC urged the court to dismiss the application.
Aliyu further deposed that Iliya Wakil, who swore to Oceangate’s affidavit, was merely a nominal director with no shareholding in the company.
He stated that Wakil was an employee of Felak Concept Group Limited, also owned by Achimugu, and incorporated on May 5, 2000.
According to Aliyu, Wakil admitted in his extrajudicial statement on April 15, 2025, that he had worked with Felak Concept since 2000 and had held several positions, including Manager (Admin), General Manager (Admin and Finance), and currently Group General Manager (Admin and Finance).
He added that Wakil confirmed he received his salary from Felak Concept and WishWhich Koncept Limited, with no record of receiving any salary from Oceangate.
Aliyu also stated that Wakil admitted receiving instructions directly from Achimugu, which he relayed to another individual, Mr. Chiroma, via telephone.
The investigator described Oceangate as “a briefcase/shell company created as a vehicle for 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 Nigerian economy’ is nothing but describing the devil as an angel of light,” Aliyu stated.
He alleged that the modus operandi of Oceangate was to acquire petroleum-related assets using tainted funds.
