A Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, has ordered the final forfeiture of 52 terrace and maisonette housing units located in the Lekki area of the state to the Federal Government.
The order was delivered on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, by Justice Alexandra Owoeye after hearing an application brought by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to a statement issued by the anti-graft agency on Saturday, the properties are situated at Mercyville Estate, Covenant Way, off New Road, Ilasan, Lagos, and were recovered from Fielddreams Limited, Ifeanyi Nweke and Amex Savings and Loans Limited.
The application for the final forfeiture was argued by EFCC counsel, Franklin Ofoma, through a Motion on Notice.
The commission recalled that it had earlier obtained an interim forfeiture order on August 14, 2024, from Justice Akintayo Aluko following an ex parte application filed by Ofoma.
The interim order was granted in favour of Dr. Kennedy Okonkwo, a real estate developer and Chief Executive Officer of Capital Gardens Limited.
Justice Aluko had also directed the EFCC to publish the interim forfeiture order in a national newspaper to enable any interested party to appear before the court and show cause why the properties should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
Following the publication, the respondents filed an affidavit challenging the application for final forfeiture.
According to the statement, in their affidavit, particularly paragraphs 16 to 25, the respondents initially claimed that the funds used to develop the 52 terrace and maisonette units came from the sale of part of a landed property, which they said generated proceeds from the sale of 29 terrace and maisonette units valued at ₦1.9 billion.
However, they later altered their position, alleging that the 3rd to 19th applicants failed to complete the various terrace and maisonette units.
The EFCC argued that the new claim contradicted the respondents’ earlier affidavit, in which they maintained that proceeds from the sales were used to complete the furnishing and interior decoration of the remaining units and that construction had been completed in 2020.
At the hearing, Ofoma informed the court that the commission had complied fully with the earlier directive to publish the interim forfeiture order.
He also stated that the application was backed by a 31-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Afolabi Seyi Oladele, a litigation officer in the EFCC’s Legal Department.
The EFCC lawyer argued that the properties were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities and urged the court to grant the application for final forfeiture.
Ofoma further told the court that the second respondent, Ifeanyi Nweke, was a fugitive facing criminal charges.
He stated that Nweke “has refused to appear before Justice R.A. Oshodi and Justice Okunuga in Charge No. ID/25771C/2025 and Charge No. ID/25769C/2025 for his arraignment and to defend the charges if he believes that he did not commit any of the offences contained in the charges against him.”
The EFCC counsel also informed the court that two subsisting warrants of arrest had been issued against Nweke, adding that he had jumped the administrative bail earlier granted to him by the commission over the alleged offences.
After considering the submissions of both parties, Justice Owoeye ruled in favour of the applicants, holding that “Premised on the foregoing position of the law, I hold that since this court cannot pick and choose which of the evidence given by Respondents to believe, it must consequently reject the entire affidavit evidence placed before it by the 1st-3rd Respondents.
“Accordingly, I reject the 1st-3rd Respondents’ Affidavit to Show Cause/Counter-Affidavit to the Applicant/Respondent’s Motion on Notice for Final Forfeiture filed on the 9th of February, 2026, but deemed properly filed on the 28th of April, 2026.
“The consequence is that there is no opposition to the Motion filed by the 1st and 2nd Applicants for the grant of an order of final forfeiture.”
The judge further held that:”Premised on the foregoing, I find that having demonstrated grounds for reasonable suspicion that the properties in question are the proceeds of unlawful activities, the applicants are entitled to the reliefs sought in this application. I therefore resolve the sole issue in this application in favour of the Applicants.”
In the final ruling, Justice Owoeye declared: “Having resolved the sole issue in this application in favour of the applicants, I hold that this application has merit and ought to be granted.
Accordingly, I grant the relief sought in this application as prayed.
