The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the final forfeiture of about 246 million shares in blue-chip companies traced to Umar Mohammed, a former Group Managing Director of Nigerian Army Properties Limited (NAPL), and businessman Kayode Oladipupo Filani.
Delivering the ruling on Tuesday, the judge, Dehinde Dipeolu, granted the application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which alleged that the 245,568,137 shares were purchased with proceeds of unlawful activities during Mr Mohammed’s tenure as head of the NAPL, the Nigerian Army’s entity that oversees its real estate investments.
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EFCC’s lawyer, Hanatu Kofanaisa, told the court that a Special Court Martial had already convicted Mr Mohammed, a retired major general, on 14 out of the18 counts of stealing and related offences preferred against him.
She argued that EFCC had fulfilled all conditions required for the forfeiture, including the publication of the interim order in a national daily. She added that no objection was filed contesting the application.
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The application was brought under Section 44(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution and Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.
In his judgment, Mr Dipeolu held that the EFCC’s case was meritorious.
He ruled that since statutory requirements were met and no opposition was raised, the shares should be permanently forfeited to the federal government, for the benefit of NAPL.
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What investigations show
According to investigations by the EFCC and the military police, the forfeited assets were held in accounts operated by Rowet Capital Management Limited and Resort Securities & Trust Limited, in the name of Awhua Resources Limited, a company linked to Mr Mohammed.
The stock portfolio included millions of shares in blue-chip companies such as Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Flour Mills Plc, Oando Plc, Transcorp, Unilever Nigeria Plc, PZ Industries, and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated.
Others were Conoil Plc, Eterna Plc, Japaul Gold & Ventures Plc, NASCON Allied Industries Plc, University Press Plc, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO), Okomu Oil Palm, May & Baker, and Union Bank of Nigeria.
A statement from the EFCC on Tuesday gave the values of the shares traced to him in some companies.
“Some of the shares include: National Aviation Handling Company(N115,567,906); Oando Plc ( N2,000,000); Dangote Sugar Refinery ( N1,000,000); Vitafoam Nigeria Plc (N81,901,651) and University Press (N40,155,291),” the statement said.
According to EFCC investigations, Mr Mohammed allegedly sold properties belonging to NAPL without approval and diverted the proceeds into stock acquisitions to conceal their origin.
EFCC investigator Nwike Fortune provided more details in an affidavit filed in support of the forfeiture application.
“The commission received a petition from Nigerian Army Properties Limited against FCCNAPL Properties Limited, Alhaji Muhammadu Dahiru Wada, Maj. Gen. U.M. Mohammed, Yusuf Abubakar Abdullahi and Kayode Oladipupo Filani. The petition chronicled how properties belonging to Nigerian Army Properties Limited were fraudulently sold without recourse to the Board of the company by Maj. Gen. Mohammed, who was the Managing Director at the time,” the court document read.
He added that preliminary investigations revealed that the proceeds of those sales were used to acquire the forfeited shares.
The ruling came after the EFCC had earlier secured the forfeiture of five properties linked to Mr Mohammed, following his conviction by a military court martial.
Background
In May 2023, the Nigerian Army confirmed that Mr Mohammed was facing trial before a Special Court Martial over alleged theft and forgery involving funds belonging to NAPL.
The Army described the court martial as a lawful disciplinary process, insisting that proceedings were open, transparent, and in line with the Armed Forces Act.
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It said the former Army Properties boss was indicted by military police investigations and was being tried in Abuja.
The Army leadership also disclosed that while Mr Mohammed ought to have retired, the Armed Forces Act allows retention of an officer under trial until disciplinary processes are concluded.
Mr Mohammed, who is represented by a legal team including two Senior Advocates of Nigeria and several other lawyers, remains in custody at a military detention facility.
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