The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately release 27 houses wrongfully seized from their owners, declaring the anti-graft agency\u2019s forfeiture application unmeritorious and its interim order invalid.<\/p>\n
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik issued the directive in a judgment delivered on October 31 in suit number FHC\/ABJ\/CS\/348\/2025, filed by the EFCC. <\/p>\n
The case stemmed from an ex parte interim forfeiture order the commission obtained on March 13, claiming the properties were proceeds of unlawful activities. As required by law, the order was published in a national daily on April 4.<\/p>\n
Following the publication, James Ikechukwu Okwete and his firm, Jamec West African Limited, appeared before the court to assert ownership of 26 of the properties. <\/p>\n
Another claimant, Adebukunola Iyabode Oladapo, filed an affidavit showing interest in House No. 12, Fandriana Close, Wuse 2, Abuja.<\/p>\n
All three objected to the EFCC\u2019s move for a final forfeiture order.<\/p>\n
In her ruling, Justice Abdulmalik agreed with the respondents, holding that their affidavits to show cause successfully established legitimate ownership. <\/p>\n
She noted that the EFCC itself raised no objection to Oladapo\u2019s claim over the Wuse property.<\/p>\n
\u201cI firmly find that the property owner\/respondent\u2019s affidavit to show cause has merit Without more, I forthwith set aside and vacate in its entirety the interim order of forfeiture granted on 13th March, 2025″, the judge held.<\/p>\n
Justice Abdulmalik consequently ordered the EFCC to \u201cimmediately release\u201d all the affected properties and their title documents to Okwete, Jamec West Africa Ltd., and Oladapo.<\/p>\n
She further declared the anti-graft agency\u2019s application for final forfeiture \u201cotiose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Owners Petition EFCC Chairman Over Alleged Non-Compliance<\/p>\n
Despite the ruling, counsel to Okwete and Jamec West Africa Ltd., Serekowei Larry, SAN, has accused the EFCC of refusing to comply with the court\u2019s directive.<\/p>\n
In a letter dated November 27 and addressed to the EFCC Chairman, the senior advocate said the judgment was delivered in the presence of the commission\u2019s legal team but had not been obeyed weeks after service.<\/p>\n
He stated that officials of the Federal High Court Enforcement Unit, led by Mrs. Lilian Amenger, visited the EFCC office on November 26 to execute the order\u2014which required only the release of title documents, but were allegedly rebuffed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn straight words, your office refused to do so, thereby blatantly disobeying the said judgment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn any regime, talk less of a democracy, it will be the height of it if judgments of the court are blatantly disobeyed”, the petition reads.<\/p>\n
Larry urged the EFCC Chairman to take immediate action to comply with the ruling, expressing hope that the alleged disobedience occurred without the chairman\u2019s knowledge.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe anticipate your positive reactions within a reasonable time before we take further steps,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The EFCC has yet to publicly comment on the allegation of non-compliance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately release 27 houses wrongfully seized from their owners, declaring the anti-graft agency\u2019s forfeiture application unmeritorious and its interim order invalid. Justice Joyce Abdulmalik issued the directive in a judgment delivered on October 31 in suit number FHC\/ABJ\/CS\/348\/2025, filed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[1846,5525,2080],"class_list":["post-9074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-law-crime","tag-application","tag-forfeiture","tag-unmeritorious"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9074"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9075,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9074\/revisions\/9075"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}