There is no question that Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has questions to answer concerning a property at 6 Aso Drive, Asokoro, Abuja, linked to former Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, which was forfeited to the Federal Government. Chief Ikechi Emenike, a former All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Abia State, who was a paying tenant at the property, accused the EFCC of “impunity and lawlessness,” saying it forcibly took possession of the house and disobeyed a court order to vacate the property.
The property was forfeited to the Federal Government as part of assets linked to Alison-Madueke, who faces multiple corruption allegations. The EFCC secured an interim forfeiture order in 2016 and a final forfeiture order in October 2023. Emenike, a tenant since 2014, was paying rent to the EFCC’s appointed manager.
Emenike alleged the EFCC acted with “impunity and lawlessness” by evicting him and ignoring court orders. Justice Musa Liman of the Federal High Court, Abuja, ruled on May 16, 2025, that Emenike be allowed access to the property, and also voided an ex-parte eviction order obtained by the EFCC on March 27, 2025, reportedly citing misrepresentation and lack of jurisdiction. Emenike’s legal team further claimed the EFCC obstructed court bailiffs, prompting motions for contempt against EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede and counsel Francis Usani.
However, the EFCC denies disobeying any court order, asserting that “the court granted an order of possession of the property to the Commission on March 27, 2025. Justice Liman granted the order when the Commission submitted that the property was proceeds of an unlawful act by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke, and forfeited to the government through an order of final forfeiture.”
The anti-graft agency, on June 30, in a statement by its spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, also stated that “the Commission neither suppressed nor misrepresented any material fact before the court in securing an ex-parte order on March 27, 2025 to get a tenant in the house, Chief Ikechi Emenike to vacate the property.” The agency acknowledged that “Emenike was paying rent on the property when it was under interim forfeiture.”
According to Emenike, when the EFCC advertised properties in Abuja, Lagos and Rivers states for auction in 2022, the agency had used the same Abuja property “as a poster.” He said: “I had a meeting with the former EFCC Chairman (Mr Bawa) on the need to grant me the Right of First Refusal. He agreed but promised that they will get back to me after reevaluating the property.
“While I was waiting for the Right of First Refusal, EFCC suddenly decided against their own law to appropriate the property to their chairman.”
Emenike protested and went to court. He said: “Justice Musa in a subsisting (unappealed judgement) gave me the Right of First Refusal and told the EFCC that they have no legal right to keep any forfeited property to themselves for whatever use. In the same judgement, he told them that the only option the law gave them was to sell the property and remit the proceeds to the Federal Government’s Single Treasury Account. He ruled that as a sitting tenant, EFCC should give me the Right of First Refusal.
“EFCC has not appealed the judgement and has also refused to give me the Right of First Refusal.”
The EFCC claims he “was economical with the truths contained in the judgement of Justice Musa of April 18, 2024 where he clearly stated that Emenike should be allowed to ‘exercise the right of first refusal for the purchase of the said property whenever the Defendant announces or otherwise indicates that the property is to be disposed of, the disposal however to be at the prevailing market price to be determined by the Defendant upon a detailed valuation report from a reputable quantity surveyor.’ “
The agency’s spokesperson added: “Till date, the Commission has not announced or indicated any readiness for the disposal of the property. Emenike’s right of first refusal can, therefore, not hold any water.” This argument is convenient, as it allows the EFCC to indefinitely defer Emenike’s right of first refusal without a clear disposal timeline.
Critical and inevitable questions arise: Why is the agency not ready for the sale of the property? Why is it delaying the disposal of the house? Is it true, as Emenike alleged, that EFCC wants to keep the property for its own use? Even by its own account, based on the court judgement it cited, the lawful course of action is to allow Emenike to “exercise the right of first refusal for the purchase of the said property.”
The EFCC also stated that “there is no subsisting contempt order on its Executive Chairman, Mr Ola Olukoyede or its counsel in the matter, Mr. Francis Usani. There was no order of the court served on the EFCC’s boss or his lawyer.” It added that “there is a pending Stay of Execution of the order of the court on June 16, 2025.”
Notably, in 2022 when the agency publicly listed requirements for participation in its auction of forfeited properties across the country, it said the exercise was “open to members of the public with the exception of individuals/corporate entities who have been/or are being prosecuted by the EFCC; Directors of such companies and employees of the EFCC.”
It also said: “Individuals occupying any of the properties listed may be given the Right of First Refusal provided they have a valid tenancy agreement; have paid rent up to date and complete an Expression of Interest (EOI) Form which can be downloaded from the EFCC website.”
These conditions are favourable to Emenike. But the EFCC has to list the property at 6 Aso Drive, Asokoro, for sale. It is unclear why the EFCC has not put the property up for sale.
The EFCC, tasked with enforcing Nigeria’s economic and financial crimes laws, investigates suspects but now finds itself under scrutiny over its handling of a forfeited property at 6 Aso Drive, Asokoro, Abuja – a striking irony.
Credit:The Nation