Appeal Court dashes ex-NIRSAL MD, consultant’s hope , affirms forfeiture of N1.5bn to FG

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has upheld a Federal High Court ruling ordering the final forfeiture of over N1.5 billion to the Federal Government.

The decision, delivered on Friday, June 20, 2025, affirms an earlier judgment by Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, issued on January 22, 2025.

The sum of N1,582,000,000 was reportedly linked to Steve Olusegun Ogidan, former National Coordinating Consultant for the Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), who was investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over allegations of bribery, money laundering, and criminal breach of trust.

The EFCC also investigated Aliyu Abbati Abdulhameed, former Managing Director of NIRSAL, in connection with the case.

“Investigation by the Commission against the duo led the Commission to a reasonable suspicion that Ogidan acquired the sum through illegitimate activities, specifically bribery from consultants he was supposed to monitor and supervise, which resulted in leaving the job totally undone. The EFCC had on February 5, 2024 secured an order of interim forfeiture on the said amount,” the EFCC said in a statement on Friday.

Following the final forfeiture order, both Ogidan and Abdulhameed appealed the decision, arguing that the Federal High Court had misapplied Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud Act. Their appeal sought to overturn the forfeiture ruling.

The appellate court heard the case on April 10, 2025, and reserved judgment until June 20. In its ruling, the court dismissed the appeals in a unanimous decision.

Justice Okon Abang, who delivered the lead judgment, concluded that the appellants’ arguments were without merit. He noted that the lower court acted appropriately in ordering the forfeiture, particularly since the appellant had voluntarily offered to settle out of court and returned the funds through the EFCC.