The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of a property in the United Kingdom linked to a late former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Jeremiah Useni, to the Federal Government.
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Justice Binta Nyako, who delivered the ruling on Tuesday, held that the case filed by the Code of Conduct Bureau was meritorious and supported by credible evidence.
The property, located at No. 79 Randall Avenue, Neasden, London, was said to have been acquired through proceeds of unlawful activities.
The forfeiture followed a motion filed by the Code of Conduct Bureau, which urged the court to grant a final order after no interested party came forward to contest an earlier interim forfeiture.
The court had, on November 28, granted an interim forfeiture order and directed the CCB to publish a notice in a national newspaper inviting interested parties to appear and show cause why the property should not be permanently forfeited to the government.
However, at the resumed hearing, counsel for the Bureau informed the court that no application was filed by any individual or entity to challenge the interim forfeiture.
Justice Nyako, in her ruling, held that the application was meritorious and consequently granted the final forfeiture order.
The judge relied on findings from a United Kingdom tribunal, which reportedly established that the property was acquired using a fictitious identity.
According to the tribunal, the name “Tali Shani,” initially presented as the owner of the property, was found to be non-existent, with evidence linking the asset to Useni.
In an affidavit, a CCB investigator, Raji Rasaq, disclosed that the UK tribunal had already established that Useni was the beneficial owner of the property, having allegedly acquired it under the fictitious identity.
He noted that the property was purchased while the former minister was in public office and that findings pointed to illicit funding.
The Bureau further submitted that an analysis of Useni’s declared earnings, based on remuneration data from the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, showed a significant discrepancy between his legitimate income and the value of the property.
According to Rasaq, a financial analysis conducted using RMAFC data showed that Useni’s legitimate earnings could not have financed the acquisition.
He said the investigation revealed a significant unexplained wealth gap, suggesting the funds used were sourced from undisclosed or unlawful activities.
The Bureau argued that the disparity supported the conclusion that the asset could not have been lawfully acquired.
The property has also featured in a separate dispute involving a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, who had claimed that it was gifted to him by the said “Tali Shani.”
The case was filed before the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) Land Registration in the United Kingdom, and involved competing claims between Ozekhome and one Tali Shani over the property.
However, the UK tribunal’s findings cast doubt on the existence of the purported donor, named “Tali Shani.”
Meanwhile, a lawyer has questioned the legal basis for the forfeiture, arguing that neither of the laws under which the court ordered the final forfeiture were applicable.
The lawyer contended that the Proceeds of Crime Act 2022 and the 1999 Constitution, which formed the basis of the forfeiture order, were not enacted when the property was acquired in 1993.
According to the lawyer, the laws could not have had retrospective effect, raising questions about the validity of applying them to a property acquired over three decades ago.
With the final forfeiture order, ownership of the property now vests permanently in the Federal Government.
The late Jeremiah Useni served as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory under the military administration of General Sani Abacha from 1993 to 1998.
The final forfeiture of the London property represents a significant victory for Nigeria’s anti-corruption efforts, demonstrating that assets acquired through suspected illicit means can be recovered even when held in foreign jurisdictions.
The case also highlights the importance of international cooperation in asset recovery, with the UK tribunal’s findings playing a crucial role in establishing the link between the property and the former minister.
The involvement of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria in a separate ownership dispute over the same property adds another layer of complexity to the case, though the tribunal’s finding that “Tali Shani” was non-existent effectively undermined claims based on gifts from that purported individual.
However, the legal question raised about the retrospective application of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2022 and the 1999 Constitution to a property acquired in 1993 may yet feature in any appeal, should interested parties choose to challenge the forfeiture at a higher court.
For now, the property at 79 Randall Avenue, Neasden, London, belongs to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
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