The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Friday, filed fresh charges against former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, with stealing and unlawfully acquiring high-value property in Abuja while he was in office.
The EFCC claims that Mr. Emefiele, along with an alleged accomplice named Eric Ocheme—who is currently on the run—illegally acquired a large estate in Abuja made up of 753 housing units.
The property, which measures over 150,000 square meters, is located at Plot 109, Cadastral Zone C09, in the Lokogoma District of the Federal Capital Territory.
According to court documents, the commission believes the estate was purchased in August 2021 through suspicious means. While EFCC has not publicly identified the official owner of the estate, a court order had earlier allowed the anti-corruption agency to seize it.
The estate has since been handed over to the Nigerian government.
Mr. Emefiele is challenging that seizure. He has approached the Court of Appeal in Abuja, asking the court to reverse the judgement that gave the government full control of the estate.
In addition to the property claims, the EFCC also filed financial misconduct allegations against the former CBN boss. The new charges accuse him of keeping billions of naira in proxy accounts between 2019 and 2021. The commission notes that in 2019 alone, N167 million was stored in a proxy account at Zenith Bank.
Further investigations also led to the discovery of over N1.23 billion in an account belonging to Kelvito Integrated Services, also held at Zenith Bank. The EFCC believes this money was obtained through unlawful means and maintained under the direction of Mr. Emefiele and his associate, Mr. Ocheme.
One of the charges reads: “That you GODWIN IFEANYI EMEFIELE and ERIC OCHEME (AT LARGE) between January and December 2021 in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, knowingly had under control the total sum of N2,945,331,050 (Two Billion, Nine Hundred and Forty Five Million, Three Hundred and Thirty One Thousand Fifty Naira).”
