Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, has asked the Appeal Court to overturn the interim and final forfeiture of the 753 duplexes in Abuja.

Emefiele, in an appeal dated April 30, 2025, said the forfeiture orders were granted without proper evidence.

Ugamatv recalls that in December 2024, the anti-graft agency secured the final forfeiture of the estate following a ruling by a judge at the FCT High Court, Jude Onwegbuzie.

According to the EFCC, the forfeiture of the estate was its largest single asset recovery since it was set up in 2003.

It, however, did not disclose the name of the individual who forfeited the property but said that it belonged to a former top brass of the government.

Although the estate was initially linked to a company that later denied ownership, the ex-apex bank boss, through his lawyer, A.M. Kotoye, filed a motion as an interested party in the suit.

Emefiele, however, in April, approached the FCT High Court with an application to reclaim the forfeited estate.

He had sought an extension of time to apply to set aside the interim and final forfeiture orders made in December 2024.

The former CBN governor argued that the entire process was conducted without his knowledge and alleged that the EFCC published the interim forfeiture notice in an “obscure” section of a newspaper, making it difficult for him to respond timely.

The judge dismissed the application filed by Emefiele and held that section 17(2) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud-Related Offences Act 2006 stipulates the notice requirements for forfeiture proceedings.

Onwegbuzie rejected Emefiele’s claim that the publication was obscure, adding that the half-page notice in a national newspaper was sufficient and could not reasonably be described as “hidden”.

Ugamatv reports that recently, the EFCC handed over the forfeited duplexes to the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.