Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja has affirmed the final forfeiture of $13 million linked to Lagos socialite Ms. Aisha Achimugu and her company, Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd, to the Federal Government.

In his judgment delivered on Wednesday, Justice Nwite ruled that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) successfully established that the funds were proceeds of fraud and unlawful activities. The court dismissed claims by Oceangate Engineering that the funds were legitimate earnings or gifts to its CEO.

The suit, filed by Oceangate, sought to recover the $13 million, but the company failed to prove the legal origin of the money. Justice Nwite noted that Achimugu did not appear in court to justify why the funds should not be forfeited and that no donor of the purported gifts testified. “The burden to prove genuine ownership of the money was not met by the applicant,” the judge said.

The EFCC had previously secured an interim forfeiture of the sum on August 22, 2025, following investigations into the company’s acquisition of deep offshore PPL 302 and shallow water PPL 3007 oil blocks. The commission’s investigator, Usman Aliyu, explained that Oceangate transferred large sums to the Federal Government, but retained $13 million through unlicensed Bureau de Change operators and associates, which were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.

Aliyu further revealed that part of the funds originated from contractors of the Lagos State Government, which had no business relationship with Oceangate, and were allegedly routed through entities controlled by Achimugu. He described Oceangate as a “briefcase company” used to acquire petroleum assets with tainted funds.

In defense, Oceangate’s director, Iliya Wakil, claimed that the funds included legitimate earnings and gifts to Achimugu, and that licensed agents facilitated the currency transactions. He denied any involvement with the unlicensed operators cited by EFCC and argued that the interim forfeiture was unlawful.

The EFCC rebutted these claims, highlighting that Wakil was a nominal director with no shareholding in the company and that Achimugu exercised full control over the company’s activities. Investigations also showed that Oceangate had not undertaken active contracts in the oil and gas sector, with audit reports submitted by the company relying solely on a memorandum of understanding rather than actual financial records.

Justice Nwite held that the EFCC met all legal requirements to classify the $13 million as proceeds of unlawful activity and permanently forfeited it to the Federal Government. This follows a similar earlier forfeiture of $7 million in Providus Bank linked to the same parties.