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Reprieve for Aisha Achimugu as court of appeal discharges EFCC of powers to freeze her accounts
The Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has delivered a major setback to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in its prolonged financial restrictions against businesswoman Aisha Achimugu.
The appellate court declared that the continued freezing of 124 bank accounts linked to Ms Achimugu was an abuse of court process and a subversion of the rule of law.
In a unanimous judgment, a three-member panel of the court discharged and vacated the ex parte order obtained by the EFCC more than 15 months earlier to freeze the accounts of Achimugu and several corporate entities associated with her.
The court also overturned the Federal High Court’s order directing the reversal of ₦1.8 billion transferred from a SunTrust Bank account to a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)/EFCC recovery account.
However, the appellate court’s decision did not validate the EFCC’s transfer of the money, leaving open the question of the legal basis upon which the anti-graft agency moved the funds.
The judgment was delivered by Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Sirajo, who sat with Justices Ishaq Mohammed Sani and Eleojo Enenche.
The case dates back to April 10, 2025, when the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, presided over by Justice Turaki Adamu, granted an ex parte application by the EFCC to freeze 124 bank accounts allegedly linked to Achimugu, a businesswoman and founder of Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd.
The order directed the affected banks to restrict outward transactions from the accounts.
But the freezing order soon became the subject of another legal battle after Achimugu challenged its continued enforcement. She alleged, among other things, that the EFCC had directed SunTrust Bank, through a letter dated April 24, 2025, to transfer funds from one of the frozen accounts into a CBN/EFCC recovery account even though the freezing order was still in force.
The controversy escalated when the Federal High Court, on August 27, 2025, ordered the reversal of ₦1.8 billion transferred from account number 0001313173 domiciled with SunTrust Bank. Justice Adamu held the transfer to be illegal and directed that the money be returned.
The EFCC challenged that decision at the Court of Appeal.
The appellate court agreed with the EFCC on one crucial point but, in doing so, exposed what it considered a fundamental evidentiary problem in the lower court’s handling of the accounts.
The court found that the accounts expressly captured by the April 10, 2025 freezing order included current accounts belonging to Drive.FGC.Net and Felak Concepts Ltd.
According to the judgment, Drive.FGC.Net’s current account carried a balance of ₦50,518,009.57, while Felak Concepts Ltd’s account had ₦16,220,608.37. But the ₦1.8 billion that became the centre of the dispute was held in a fixed deposit account, while another ₦7.79 billion was linked to internal ledger account numbers 2010155010 and 2010155011.
The appellate court questioned the lower court’s treatment of the accounts as identical.
It pointedly observed that the trial court had failed to explain how an account holding about ₦50 million could at the same time have yielded ₦1.8 billion for transfer.
The implication was decisive: the account containing the ₦1.8 billion was not among those expressly covered by the original freezing order.
The Court of Appeal therefore set aside the order directing the reversal of the ₦1.8 billion. But it carefully stopped short of giving the EFCC a clean bill of health.
The appellate court expressly stated that its decision did not amount to a declaration that the EFCC’s decision to transfer the money was lawful.
That distinction could prove significant in any subsequent legal proceedings over the disputed funds.
While the EFCC succeeded on the question of the ₦1.8 billion, it suffered a more consequential defeat over the continued freezing of the 124 accounts.
The anti-graft agency had argued that the Federal High Court acted improperly by delivering its ruling during the annual vacation and that it had been denied fair hearing. The Court of Appeal rejected both arguments.
Justice Sirajo held that delivering a reserved judgment during the court’s annual vacation did not amount to the conduct of general legal business and did not occasion a miscarriage of justice.
On fair hearing, the court noted that both sides had filed further affidavits and counter-affidavits on the disputed transfer. The court concluded that the parties had been adequately heard.
But the appellate court drew a firm constitutional and procedural line over the continued use of the ex parte order.
It held that such an order is intended to be temporary, principally to preserve disputed funds pending the hearing and determination of the substantive application.
Allowing the freezing order to remain in force for more than 15 months, the court held, amounted to an abuse of court process and a subversion of the rule of law.
The appellate court consequently discharged and vacated in its entirety the April 10, 2025 ex parte order freezing and restricting the accounts of Achimugu and the corporate entities associated with her.
The ruling effectively ends the interim restrictions that had kept the accounts frozen for more than a year.
The judgment also exposes a deeper procedural issue in the use of ex parte financial restrictions: an order intended as a short-term preservation mechanism cannot, in the court’s view, be allowed to morph into an open-ended restraint without the substantive case being properly determined.
Families of the rescued 20 abducted National Youths Service Corps, NYSC, members have said they paid millions of naira in ransom before learning of their release.
Accordding to them, some relatives paid more than N3 million, while others reportedly paid up to N6 million each.
The hat security agencies, including the military, Department of State Services, DSS, police and other security formations rescued the corps members and another hostage in Imo State on Wednesday.
“I paid as much as N3 million as ransom while I was hoping that nothing happened to my child. I ran helter-skelter to raise the money. I eventually got the money and sent someone to Imo State to deliver the ransom,” a mother of one of the corps members said.
A father, who spoke to News Central Television, said he paid N6 million for the release of his abducted son.
“We had to converge somewhere in Ibadan, Oyo State to put the money together. Some of us even changed the money to dollars and sent it to Imo State to meet whoever was coming to pick it.
“I am excited that my son is coming back. However, how do I repay the N6 million I borrowed? I’m just a farmer,” he said.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has been honoured with the AfriGEO Weather, Climate and Early Warning Services Award for its outstanding contributions to weather and climate services, early warning systems and climate resilience through the effective use of Earth observation technologies.
The prestigious award was presented to the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of NiMet, Prof. Charles Anosike, by the Director-General of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Prof. Matthew Olumide Adepoju, at the 10th AfriGEO Gala Dinner held in Abuja on October 7, 2026.
The presentation formed part of activities marking the 10th AfriGEO Symposium, a major continental platform dedicated to promoting the application of Earth observation, geospatial information and environmental intelligence in addressing Africa’s development and environmental challenges.
The 2026 symposium, held under the theme, “Earth Observations for a Resilient Africa,” brought together policymakers, scientists, development partners, private-sector stakeholders and practitioners from the 33 African member states of AfriGEO.
The recognition places NiMet among institutions making significant contributions to the advancement of weather and climate information services on the continent, particularly in the areas of early warning, climate adaptation and the application of Earth observation data to strengthen resilience.
NiMet’s recognition is also significant against the backdrop of increasing climate-related risks across Africa, including extreme rainfall, flooding, drought, heatwaves and other weather and climate hazards that continue to pose challenges to communities, agriculture, infrastructure and economic activities.
Through its mandate, NiMet provides meteorological and climatological information used by various sectors of the Nigerian economy, including agriculture, aviation, water resources, disaster risk management and other climate-sensitive sectors.
The Agency has increasingly focused on ensuring that weather and climate information is not only generated but also translated into timely and actionable information capable of supporting decision-making and protecting lives and livelihoods.
The AfriGEO award therefore underscores the growing importance of NiMet’s contribution to strengthening Nigeria’s capacity to anticipate and respond to weather and climate-related hazards.
Earth observation has become an increasingly important tool in understanding environmental changes, monitoring weather and climate patterns and developing effective early warning systems.
By combining Earth observation technologies with meteorological and climate information, institutions can improve their ability to monitor hazards, provide forecasts and support governments and communities in taking preventive and adaptive measures.
For Nigeria, where weather and climate conditions have direct implications for food production, transportation, water resources, public safety and economic activities, reliable meteorological information remains critical to national development and resilience.
The recognition also highlights the importance of collaboration among national institutions, scientific organisations and international and regional partners in strengthening Africa’s capacity to harness Earth observation for sustainable development.
The 10th AfriGEO Symposium provided an avenue for stakeholders across the continent to exchange knowledge, showcase innovations and examine practical approaches to using Earth observation and geospatial technologies to address emerging environmental and development challenges.
With the theme, “Earth Observations for a Resilient Africa,” the symposium placed particular emphasis on the need for African countries to strengthen their ability to generate, share and utilise environmental intelligence in responding to climate change and other risks.
NiMet has reaffirmed its commitment to advancing the use of weather, climate and Earth observation information to strengthen early warning and support evidence-based decision-making in Nigeria.
The Agency said it would continue to pursue innovation and strategic partnerships aimed at improving the delivery of timely and actionable climate information to stakeholders across the country.
According to the Agency, the objective is to ensure that weather and climate information contributes meaningfully to national planning, disaster preparedness, climate adaptation and the protection of vulnerable communities.
NiMet also emphasised its commitment to supporting the Federal Government’s climate-resilience agenda through the continued provision of scientific and technical information needed to manage climate-related risks.
The recognition of the Agency at the AfriGEO platform is expected to further reinforce the importance of meteorological and Earth observation services in Nigeria’s efforts to build a safer and more climate-resilient society.
As climate variability and extreme weather events continue to challenge communities across Africa, stakeholders at the symposium stressed the need for stronger investments in science, technology, innovation and early warning systems.
For NiMet, the AfriGEO award represents recognition of its contribution to this continental effort and reinforces the Agency’s role in using science, technology and environmental intelligence to support national development.
The Agency said it would continue to work with relevant stakeholders to expand access to reliable weather and climate information, strengthen early warning mechanisms and promote informed decision-making.
The ultimate goal, it said, is to contribute to a safer, better-informed and climate-resilient Nigeria, while supporting broader African efforts to harness Earth observation for sustainable development and resilience.
Elon Musk’s wealth has again topped US$1 trillion as stocks of his companies SpaceX and Tesla surged.
Forbes estimated the world’s richest man’s net worth at $1 trillion on Monday, an increase of $30.6 billion from Friday last week, the last stock market trading day.
The gain reinforces Musk’s position as the world’s wealthiest person, far ahead of Bezos, who ranks second with a fortune of $371.5 billion. Google co-founder Larry Page followed with $284.3 billion, while Dell Technologies chairman Michael Dell ranked fourth with $272.2 billion.
`Musk became the world’s first trillionaire in June as SpaceX shares soared following its record-breaking initial public offering, but soon lost that status when the stock fell amid concerns about the company’s lofty valuation, according to Bloomberg.
His fortune has approached the trillion-dollar threshold again in recent days as both companies’ shares rallied. Tesla’s third-quarter deliveries exceeded analysts’ expectations last week, helping increase Musk’s wealth by $61 billion on Friday alone.
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