COURT ORDERS EMEFIELE TO FORFEIT THE FINAL BRIBERY FUNDS

The entire $1,426,175.14 associated with the recently terminated Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, was ordered to be forfeited by the Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday.

The Federal Government was ordered to receive the funds as a final forfeiture by Justice Ayokunle Faji. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission filed an application on Tuesday, which was followed by the final forfeiture order.

On May 29, 2014, the anti-graft agency was able to get an interim order that temporarily forfeited the money.

In order to provide anyone interested in the money an opportunity to appear in court and provide justification for why it shouldn’t be forfeited permanently, the judge ordered that the court order be published in the press.

Mrs. Bilkisu Buhari-Bala, the EFCC’s attorney, stated during the Tuesday hearing that the commission had complied with the publication order and that
no one had come forward to
collect the money.

Only a few days ago, the same court ordered the permanent confiscation of Emefiele’s chosen properties, valued at N12.18 billion. This Tuesday’s forfeiture of the $1.4 million follows suit.