A Federal High Court in Abuja has issued an order for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to transfer $9.8 million and £74,000, recovered from Andrew Yakubu, a former group managing director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), to an account under the control of the chief registrar of the court.
The presiding judge, Inyang Ekwo, found that the EFCC and CBN had not been forthcoming regarding the whereabouts of the sums for which the case revolved. He noted that the order aims to ensure that the funds are retrievable by any of the parties entitled to them while the appeal lodged by the Federal Government against a decision of a sister court is pending.
In April, Yakubu had sued the CBN, EFCC, and Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) over their alleged refusal to release his $9.8 million after a court judgment acquitted him of fraud charges.
In 2017, the EFCC raided Yakubu’s property in Kaduna and recovered the $9.8 million and £74,000 stashed in a fire-proof safe. He was alleged to have omitted these funds from his asset declaration form. Yakubu was later arraigned on money laundering and false asset declaration charges but was discharged and acquitted in March 2022. He subsequently sought the court’s order for the release of the seized monies.
