The Supreme Court has reinstated the final forfeiture of seven luxury properties linked to former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, reversing an earlier judgment of the Court of Appeal that nullified the forfeiture and ordered a fresh hearing.
The decision was delivered on Friday by a unanimous five-member panel of the apex court headed by Justice Ibrahim Saulawa.
In its judgment, the Supreme Court upheld the appeal challenging the appellate court’s ruling and set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, which had earlier invalidated the forfeiture proceedings.
By restoring the judgment of the Federal High Court in Lagos, the apex court reaffirmed the final forfeiture of the seven high-value properties to the Federal Government.
The ruling effectively reverses the Court of Appeal’s directive that the matter should be retried before the Federal High Court.
The appellate court had previously held that the trial court’s forfeiture order should not stand and ordered that the case be heard afresh.
However, the Supreme Court disagreed with that position, holding that the appeal against the trial court’s judgment had merit.
As a result, the apex court restored the original decision of the Federal High Court, bringing the disputed properties back under the ownership of the Federal Government through a final forfeiture order.
The judgment also marks the end of Godwin Emefiele’s legal challenge against the forfeiture order issued by the Federal High Court.
The former CBN governor had sought to overturn the ruling that permanently transferred ownership of the properties to the Federal Government.
With Friday’s judgment, the Supreme Court has affirmed the validity of the forfeiture proceedings, leaving the Federal High Court’s order intact.
The properties remain permanently forfeited to the Federal Government following the apex court’s decision.
Further details surrounding the court’s reasoning and the specific properties involved are expected to emerge as the full judgment becomes available.
