The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the final forfeiture of 245,568,137 shares, worth over N5bn, traced to former Group Managing Director of Nigerian Army Properties Limited, Maj. Gen. Umar Mohammed, and a businessman, Kayode Filani.
Justice Dehinde Dipeolu gave the ruling on Tuesday following an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which alleged that the shares were acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities during Mohammed’s leadership of the Army’s property company.
After reviewing the application, Justice Dipeolu held that the EFCC had established a compelling case, noting that no objection was filed against the forfeiture.
The judge therefore ordered the shares permanently forfeited to the Federal Government for the benefit of NAPL.
He ruled:“Having reviewed the application before me, together with the affidavit evidence and the absence of any objection, I am satisfied that the applicant has fulfilled the statutory requirements for a final forfeiture order. The motion is therefore meritorious and succeeds.”
During the proceedings, EFCC counsel, Hanatu Kofanaisa, informed the court that a Special Court Martial had already convicted Mohammed on 14 out of 18 counts of stealing and related offences.
She added that the interim forfeiture order had been duly published in a national daily, and since no opposition was raised, the final order should be granted.
According to the EFCC, properties belonging to NAPL were fraudulently sold under Mohammed’s tenure, with the proceeds diverted into the acquisition of shares in various companies to disguise the source of the funds.
The forfeiture was made pursuant to Section 44(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution and Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.
Investigations revealed that the forfeited assets were held through Awhua Resources Limited, a company linked to Mohammed, using accounts managed by Rowet Capital Management Limited and Resort Securities & Trust Limited.
The shares include substantial holdings in Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Conoil Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Eterna Plc, Flour Mills Plc, Japaul Gold & Ventures Plc, NASCON Allied Industries Plc, Oando Plc, University Press Plc and Vitafoam Nigeria Plc.
The forfeiture also covered shares in Nigerian Aviation Handling Company, PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc, Transcorp, Okomu Oil Palm, May & Baker, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Union Bank of Nigeria and Unilever Nigeria Plc.
In an affidavit, an EFCC investigator, Nwike Fortune, stated that the commission received a petition from NAPL against Mohammed, FCCNAPL Properties Limited, and others over the unauthorised sale of Army properties.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the proceeds of those sales were used in the acquisition of shares in different companies now sought to be forfeited. The stocks contained in the attached schedules were purchased with funds fraudulently obtained by Maj. Gen. Mohammed during his tenure,” Fortune deposed.
He added that Mohammed attempted to conceal the illicit funds by using Awhua Resources Limited to acquire shares through the two stockbroking firms.
The ruling follows an earlier court order that five properties linked to Mohammed be forfeited after his conviction by a military court martial.
