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A federal high court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of N3.4 billion and three properties linked to alleged fraud involving Salihu Nuhu Jamari, a former managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Gas and Power Investment Company Limited.
The order followed a motion filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and argued by Martha Babatunde.
The assets include an uncompleted 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 traced to Jamari.
The EFCC said the assets were proceeds of unlawful activities linked to three projects awarded by the NNPCL – the Maiduguri Emergency Power Project, Abuja Independent Power Project, and Benin Gas Plant Project.
According to the commission, Jamari exercised significant control over the projects while serving as managing director of the NNPC Gas and Power Investment Company Limited.
At the hearing, Maryam Abba, counsel to Jamari, told the court that her client had filed an affidavit of non-contestation, indicating no objection to the forfeiture.
Babatunde said the commission complied with an earlier court order directing it to publish a notice inviting interested parties to show cause why the assets should not be forfeited.
She added that the notice was published, and no opposition was 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 the application was brought under section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud-Related Offences Act, describing the proceedings as a non-conviction-based asset forfeiture.
In an affidavit, Abdullahi Aminu, an EFCC investigator, said the case stemmed from a petition alleging conspiracy, bribery, kickbacks, and money laundering involving NNPCL officials and contractors, in which Jamari was named.
