Court gavel
Federal High Court on Tuesday in Abuja issued an interim forfeiture order for N20 million allegedly misappropriated through fraudulent contracts at the National Steel Council (NSC).
Justice Emeka Nwite granted the order following an ex-parte motion presented by Ogechi Ujam, counsel for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The judge, further, instructed the EFCC to publish the forfeiture notice in a national newspaper, allowing any interested parties 14 days from the publication date to provide reasons why the funds should not be permanently seized by the Federal Government.
The case was adjourned to September 5 for the EFCC to report compliance with the court’s directives.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the EFCC filed the ex-parte motion, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1528/2025, on July 29.
In its affidavit, the commission disclosed that it received a petition accusing the NSC’s executive secretary of misappropriating public funds and engaging in fraud.
The petition alleged that the executive secretary, in collusion with other Federal Government officials, diverted the council’s budgetary allocations without proper authorization from the NSC board.
The EFCC’s preliminary investigation revealed that Le-Juene International Nigeria Limited received funds for a contract awarded by the NSC but failed to execute the project or use the funds for their intended purpose.
The probe further indicated that the company received federal funds for an unfulfilled contract, prompting the need to recover the money to prevent further dissipation.
The EFCC emphasized the urgency of securing the funds to ensure their restitution to the Federal Government.
