A Federal High Court in Abuja has scheduled March 25 for ruling on a motion filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the final forfeiture of $13 million being claimed by Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd, a firm associated with businesswoman Aisha Achimugu.
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Justice Emeka Nwite fixed the date on Monday after EFCC’s lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, and Oceangate’s lawyer, Darlington Ozurumba, made their final submissions.
The court had last year issued an order for the interim forfeiture of the funds, which the EFCC claimed were proceeds of unlawful activities.
It ordered the commission to publish the interim order in a national daily for any interested party to show cause why the money should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
In response to the publication, Oceangate filed an affidavit to show cause, claiming ownership of the money and, among other things, rejecting the EFCC’s allegation that the funds were proceeds of unlawful activities.
Oceangate claimed that the funds were legitimately sourced for the payment of its interest in two oil licences, PPL 302 and PPL 3007, which it won sometime in 2024.
The EFCC, in its response to Oceangate’s affidavit to show cause, gave details of its investigation, which it claimed revealed that the $13 million was from unlawful sources.
The commission also claimed that part of the money was contributed by contractors engaged by the Lagos State Government.
On September 15, 2025, the same court granted a similar motion by the EFCC for the final forfeiture of $7 million which it claimed to have recovered at a Providus Bank branch in Ikoyi, Lagos, but which nobody came forward to claim.
A company, Felak Group, later issued a statement dismissing reports linking its Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Aisha Achimugu, and its subsidiary, Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas, to a controversial $7 million cash transaction allegedly tied to Providus Bank.
In its response to Oceangate’s affidavit to show cause, the EFCC said:
“In the course of our investigation, we found that Iliya Wakil, the deponent of the respondent’s affidavit to show cause, was a mere nominal director with no shareholding in Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited and an employee of Felak Concept Limited, a company incorporated on May 5, 2000.
“On March 31, 2014, a company known as Felak Concept Group Limited, with registration number 1181455, was incorporated at the Corporate Affairs Commission by Felak Concept Limited, Altex Engineering Oil and Gas Limited, Wishwhich Koncept Limited, Ay-Dol International Limited, and Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas as shareholders.
“Iliya Wakil admitted, in his extrajudicial statement to my team on April 15, 2025, that: ‘I have worked with Felak Concept from 2000 to date and have held several positions, including Manager, Admin; General Manager, Admin and Finance; and presently Group General Manager, Admin and Finance.’
“Iliya Wakil, the deponent in the respondent’s affidavit to show cause, stated that he consistently drew his monthly salary from his known employer, Felak Concept Group Limited, and Wishwhich Koncept Limited. There is no record of Iliya Wakil drawing salary from Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas.
“Iliya Godiya Wakil admitted in his extrajudicial statement that he got all his instructions from the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Dr. Aisha Achimugu Sulaiman, and he in turn gave the same instructions to Chiroma via telephone conversation.
“Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited is a briefcase or shell company created as a vehicle for holding petroleum-related assets procured with funds reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.
“Hence, describing the company as ‘a professional oil and gas consortium operating in diverse sectors of the oil and gas industry’ is nothing but describing the devil as an angel of light.
“The acquisition of its interest in PPL 302 and PPL 3007 with funds reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity is a clear demonstration of the modus operandi of the respondent in acquiring petroleum-related assets with tainted funds.
“The $13,000,000 forfeited in the interim by this court to the Federal Government of Nigeria was not proceeds of any lawful, legitimate, provable, known, or justifiable income of the respondent. Rather, the funds are reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.”
The EFCC, while revealing how Oceangate obtained the two oil licences, stated that sometime in 2024, Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited participated in an oil block licensing bid for deep offshore PPL 302 and shallow water PPL 3007.
It said that upon completion of the technical and commercial bid exercise, Oceangate was notified by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) via a letter dated January 29, 2025, of its winning bidder status and the conditions precedent to be fulfilled before the issuance of the licences.
The EFCC stated that the total financial obligations of Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited to the Federal Government before issuance of the Petroleum Prospecting Licences was $37,223,144.00.
According to the commission, the $13 million currently sought to be permanently forfeited was transferred to Oceangate’s Zenith Bank account in tranches by Ashrab Energy and Oil Services Ltd, Tripple A & Tee Oil Nigeria Ltd, Code Crafter Tech Ltd, Overcliffe Energy Solutions, and Prism 24 Oil and Gas.
The EFCC alleged that these companies were neither investors in the oil and gas business nor had any legitimate contractual relationship with Oceangate.
It further claimed that Oceangate did not sell any petroleum-related products or render any oil and gas services to justify the payments, alleging that the company was used to conceal and disguise the unlawful origin of the funds.
The commission also alleged that false pro forma invoices and debt financing representations were procured to legitimize the transactions, adding that WhatsApp conversations recovered during investigation showed how the documents were prepared.
The EFCC further claimed that part of the funds originated from monies paid by the Lagos State Government to contractors for public projects, which were allegedly diverted, converted to dollars, and transferred to Oceangate.
In urging the court to grant the final forfeiture order, the EFCC maintained that the funds used to pay the signature bonuses for PPL 302 and PPL 3007 were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.
Oceangate, however, denied the allegations in its affidavit to show cause, deposed to by one of its directors, Iliya Wakil, asserting that the funds were derived from legitimate earnings and gifts made to its Group Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Aisha Achimugu.
The company denied conspiring with unlicensed Bureau de Change operators or bank officials and stated that Suleiman Chiroma, mentioned by the EFCC, was a licensed BDC agent lawfully engaged to source foreign exchange, as payment for the signature bonuses was required to be made in dollars.
Oceangate further denied knowing or transacting with Dantani Hassan, Ashrab Energy and Oil Services Limited, Tirmizi Usman, or Tripple A & Tee Oil Nigeria Limited.
It also challenged the interim forfeiture order, arguing that it was made without jurisdiction and in violation of its right to fair hearing, and urged the court to set it aside.
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