Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has lost his final legal battle to retain seven landed properties, $2.045 million and share certificates after the Supreme Court affirmed their forfeiture to the Federal Government.
In a unanimous judgment delivered on Friday, July 17, 2026, a five-member panel of the apex court led by Justice Ibrahim Mohammed Saulawa set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal and restored the earlier decision of the Federal High Court, Lagos, which ordered the final forfeiture of the assets.
The Supreme Court held that the properties, funds and share certificates were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.
Following the Federal High Court’s final forfeiture order on November 1, 2024, Emefiele appealed the decision. The Court of Appeal subsequently overturned the ruling, prompting the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to challenge the judgment before the Supreme Court.
Allowing the EFCC’s appeal, the apex court reinstated and affirmed the judgment of the Federal High Court, bringing the legal dispute over the assets to a close.
The forfeited properties include a fully detached duplex at No. 17B Hakeem Odumosu Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos; an undeveloped parcel of land measuring 1,919.592 square metres at Oyinkan Abayomi 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 of land in Agbor, Delta State; eight units of undetached apartments at No. 8A Adekunle Lawal Road, Ikoyi; and a duplex at 2A Bank Road, Ikoyi.
The apex court also upheld the forfeiture of $2,045,000 and the share certificates of Queensdorf Global Fund Limited to the Federal Government.
The final forfeiture order was originally granted by Justice D.I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court, Lagos, in Suit No. FHC/L/MISC/500/24, following an application filed by the EFCC through its Director of Public Prosecution, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN.
The application, brought as an action in rem, was made pursuant to Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and Section 44(2)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
In an affidavit supporting the application, EFCC investigating officer David Jayeoba stated that investigations revealed the assets were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.
The Commission argued that the properties, funds and share certificates were liable to forfeiture under the law because they were reasonably suspected to have been acquired through unlawful means.
With the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision, the final forfeiture of the seven landed properties, $2.045 million and the share certificates to the Federal Government has now been conclusively upheld, ending Emefiele’s appeal over the assets.
