A federal high court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of N3.4 billion and three properties in connection with an alleged fraud involving Salihu Nuhu Jamari, the former managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Gas and Power Investment Company Limited.
The order stemmed from a motion filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and argued by Martha Babatunde.
The assets include an unfinished six-bedroom semi-detached duplex with boys’ quarters in Asokoro, Abuja; a two-bedroom flat in Ikoyi, Lagos; and a restaurant building in Lokogoma, Abuja, all tracked back to Jamari.
The EFCC stated that the assets were the profits of illegal operations related to three NNPCL-awarded projects: the Maiduguri Emergency Power Project, the Abuja Independent Power Project, and the Benin Gas Plant Project.
According to the panel, Jamari had extensive authority over the projects while working as managing director of the NNPC Gas and Power Investment Company Limited.
At the hearing, Jamari’s counsel, Maryam Abba, informed the court that her client had filed an affidavit of non-contestation, indicating no disagreement to the forfeiture.
Babatunde stated that the commission followed an earlier court ruling instructing it to issue a notice allowing interested parties to show cause why the assets should not be forfeited.
She noted that the notification was issued and that no objections were received.
“We filed a written address as our oral submission in urging this honourable court to grant our application, the motion having been unopposed,” she said.
In her ruling, the judge noted that the interested party (Jamari) did not contest the application.
“Consequently, I grant the order for final forfeiture of the properties and the funds attached to the motion to the Federal Government of Nigeria,” she ruled.
The EFCC said that the application was filed under Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud-Related Offenses Act, which describes the proceedings as a non-conviction-based asset forfeiture.
In an affidavit, Abdullahi Aminu, an EFCC investigator, stated that the case began from a petition alleging conspiracy, bribery, kickbacks, and money laundering involving NNPCL executives and contractors, in which Jamari was named.
