The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday upheld the final forfeiture of $13 million tied to Lagos socialite and entrepreneur Aisha Achimugu and her company, Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd, ruling that the funds were proceeds of fraud and unlawful activity.
Delivering judgment, Justice Emeka Nwite dismissed the company’s claims to reclaim the funds, noting that Achimugu failed to appear in court to justify the source of the money. The judge emphasized that no individual alleged to have gifted the money testified, and the company offered no evidence of legitimate business activity generating the funds.
Oceangate had sought to recover the $13 million, claiming it was derived from earnings and gifts to its CEO, Achimugu, a well-known Lagos socialite who has been in the public eye for years. She made headlines in the past for extravagant displays of wealth, including chartering planes to fly guests from Nigeria to international destinations for her birthday celebrations.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) traced the funds to transactions linked to the acquisition of oil blocks from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission in 2024. Investigations revealed that while the company made payments in tranches exceeding $20 million, $13 million of the cash was allegedly sourced through unlicensed Bureau de Change operators and bank officials—funds suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.
The EFCC argued that Oceangate operated as a shell company for holding petroleum assets acquired with illicit funds. According to the commission, the company had no verifiable contracts in the oil and gas sector, and its financial statements were unreliable.
Justice Nwite’s ruling follows earlier court actions, including the September 2025 forfeiture of $7 million recovered from a Providus Bank branch in Ikoyi, Lagos, linked to Achimugu.
With this judgment, the court has cemented the Federal Government’s position in reclaiming funds tied to Achimugu and her company, ending yet another chapter in the socialite’s long-standing presence in Nigeria’s headlines.
