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| The Federal High Court complex in Abuja, photographed in 2018. File photograph. Ovinuchi Prince Ejiohuo / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. |
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is pursuing the permanent forfeiture of three Abuja properties linked to former Bayelsa State governor Timipre Sylva after telling the Federal High Court that no interested party had come forward to contest their seizure.
The application forms part of proceedings involving nine properties already subject to an interim forfeiture order. The court has fixed 23 February 2027 for the commission to report its compliance with earlier directives on publication, service of documents and responses to interested parties.
According to a News Agency of Nigeria report, proceedings scheduled for Tuesday, 10 November, could not take place because the presiding judge, Justice Obiora Egwuatu, was attending another official engagement. The application for permanent forfeiture remains pending.
The three properties comprise a block containing 10 flats in Wuse Zone 4, another containing six flats at No. 1, Mubi Close, and a detached duplex at No. 18, Nile Lake, Plot 1271, Maitama.
At the 25 May hearing, EFCC counsel Oluwaleke Atolagbe told the court that several parties had submitted affidavits opposing the permanent forfeiture of other properties in the agency’s schedule. However, he said nobody had indicated an interest in the three assets listed as numbers four, six and eight.
Atolagbe informed the judge that the commission had filed a motion on notice on 22 May seeking their final forfeiture to the Federal Government. He based the request on the absence of anyone contesting the proposed seizure.
Justice Egwuatu did not consider the application because the motion was not in the court’s file. He also questioned whether the commission had served the relevant documents on the parties who had appeared to oppose forfeiture.
Responding, Atolagbe acknowledged that only one of those parties had received the processes. He said the EFCC had published the interim forfeiture order in Tribune and The PUNCH, but had yet to submit an affidavit confirming compliance.
The judge consequently directed the commission to publish the application concerning the three properties in the same manner as the interim order. He also instructed its lawyer to serve the outstanding documents, file evidence of compliance and respond to the submissions from interested parties to ensure a fair hearing.
The proceedings began with an ex parte application in suit FHC/ABJ/CS/607/2026. On 24 April, Justice Egwuatu granted the temporary forfeiture of the nine properties after the EFCC alleged that they represented proceeds of unlawful activities.
That order required publication in two national newspapers within seven days of the commission receiving its certified true copy. Interested persons had 14 days to explain why the court should not make the forfeiture permanent.
The properties attracting objections include terrace buildings in Dakibiyu, a building occupied by the National Information Technology Development Agency in Garki, residential and office premises in Maitama, flats in Wuse II and a duplex at Palm Springs Estate, Mpape. Lawyers representing interested parties appeared in respect of those assets at the May hearing.