Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal in Abuja seeking to overturn a judgment that granted the federal government ownership of a large estate comprising 753 housing units in the Lokogoma district of Abuja.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had secured a court order forfeiting the estate to the government, initially linking it to an unnamed former public official. However, Emefiele, through his counsel A.M. Kotoye, claims he has a legal interest in the property and should have been included in the proceedings.
“I was unaware of the forfeiture,” Emefiele stated in his filing, arguing that the EFCC failed to notify him properly. He said the agency placed the interim forfeiture notice in an obscure section of a newspaper, making it difficult to detect—particularly while he was simultaneously dealing with three ongoing criminal cases in Abuja and Lagos.
Emefiele accused the EFCC of deliberately concealing the case, despite ongoing legal interactions with him over separate charges. The trial court, however, dismissed his objections, ruling that the EFCC followed due process and that the newspaper publication met the legal requirement for notice. The judge maintained that the notice “could not reasonably be described as hidden.”
On April 30, 2025, Emefiele filed an appeal asking the Court of Appeal to:
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Overturn the judgment delivered on April 28, 2025;
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Set aside the interim and final forfeiture orders dated November 1 and December 2, 2024;
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Grant his original application, filed on January 28, 2025.
In the appeal, Emefiele argued that the trial court failed to properly evaluate the evidence before it, relying instead on “hearsay, suspicion, and insufficient proof.” He claimed the orders constituted a “miscarriage of justice” and were issued in breach of his constitutional rights under the 1999 Constitution.
“The failure of the trial judge to properly evaluate the affidavit and documents before him is perverse and has caused a miscarriage of justice,” he stated.
Emefiele also insisted that he holds both legal and equitable interests in the property, contrary to the court’s finding that he failed to prove ownership.
Meanwhile, his legal team has written to the Minister of Housing, urging the federal government to suspend any plans to sell the estate until the appeal is concluded.
“We are aware that the properties may soon be sold to the public. We have already served the EFCC with a notice of appeal and an injunction,” the letter said.
The government had recently announced plans to auction the estate to low- and middle-income Nigerians as part of its broader housing initiative.