Lagos court orders final forfeiture of N5bn in shares linked to Maj. Gen. Umar Mohammed, recovered for Nigerian Army Properties Limited.
The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the permanent forfeiture of 245,568,137 shares, valued at over N5 billion, connected to the former Group Managing Director of Nigerian Army Properties Limited (NAPL), Maj. Gen. Umar Mohammed, and businessman Kayode Filani.
The ruling was delivered on Tuesday by Justice Dehinde Dipeolu, following an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which alleged that the shares were acquired through proceeds of unlawful activities during Mohammed’s tenure at NAPL.
Justice Dipeolu held that the EFCC had successfully demonstrated a compelling case for the forfeiture, noting that no objections were filed against the application.
Consequently, the judge ruled that the shares should be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government for the benefit of NAPL, emphasising the statutory compliance of the application.
“Having reviewed the application before me, together with the affidavit evidence and the absence of any objection, I am satisfied that the applicant has fulfilled the statutory requirements for a final forfeiture order.
“The motion is therefore meritorious and succeeds,” Justice Dipeolu declared in her judgment.
During court proceedings, EFCC counsel Hanatu Kofanaisa explained that Maj. Gen. Mohammed had been convicted by a Special Court Martial on 14 out of 18 counts of stealing and related offences.
She informed the court that an interim forfeiture order had been duly published in a national daily, and since no opposition was raised, the final forfeiture order was warranted.
Investigations revealed that properties belonging to NAPL were fraudulently sold under Mohammed’s leadership.
The proceeds of these illegal sales were allegedly diverted into the acquisition of shares in various Nigerian companies to disguise the source of the funds.
According to the EFCC, Mohammed attempted to conceal the illicit wealth by using Awhua Resources Limited, a company under his control, to purchase shares through accounts managed by Rowet Capital Management Limited and Resort Securities & Trust Limited.
An EFCC investigator, Nwike Fortune, stated in an affidavit that the commission received a petition from NAPL against Mohammed and other associates regarding the unauthorized sale of Army properties.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the proceeds of these sales were used to acquire shares in multiple companies, now subject to forfeiture.
Fortune emphasized that the stocks listed in the attached schedules were purchased with funds fraudulently obtained by Maj. Gen. Mohammed during his tenure.
The forfeited shares include substantial holdings in several major Nigerian corporations, reflecting the wide scale of Mohammed’s alleged financial impropriety.
These companies include:
Cadbury Nigeria Plc
Conoil Plc
Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc
Eterna Plc
Flour Mills Plc
Japaul Gold & Ventures Plc
NASCON Allied Industries Plc
Oando Plc
University Press Plc
Vitafoam Nigeria Plc
Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO)
PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc
Transcorp
Okomu Oil Palm
May & Baker Nigeria Plc
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated
Union Bank of Nigeria Plc
Unilever Nigeria Plc
The breadth of these holdings demonstrates the extensive reach of the alleged misappropriation and the EFCC’s efforts to recover assets linked to fraud and corruption in public institutions.
The court’s decision was made pursuant to Section 44(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution and Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.
These provisions empower the Federal Government to seize assets acquired through illegal means, particularly those linked to public officers misusing public funds.
This latest ruling builds on an earlier court order that five properties linked to Maj. Gen. Mohammed were forfeited following his conviction by a military court martial.
The new order extends the forfeiture to include his vast shareholdings in prominent companies, marking a significant recovery of assets for NAPL and reinforcing the government’s stance against corruption in public institutions.
The EFCC’s investigation and subsequent court proceedings highlight the multi-layered methods used by corrupt public officials to divert public resources into private wealth, often using companies and financial intermediaries to obscure the origins of illicit funds.