The Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has vacated the order freezing the bank accounts of businesswoman and founder of Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Limited, Aisha Achimugu, as well as accounts belonging to companies linked to her.
Naija News reports that the three-member panel of the appellate court, in a unanimous judgment delivered on Wednesday, discharged the ex parte interim freezing order earlier granted by the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt on April 10, 2025.
The panel comprised Justices Muhammad Ibrahim Sirajo, Ishaq Mohammed Sani and Eleojo Enenche.
The appeal arose from a dispute between Achimugu and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the freezing of 124 bank accounts allegedly linked to her and associated corporate entities.
Justice Turaki Adamu of the Federal High Court had, on April 10, 2025, granted an application by the EFCC temporarily freezing the accounts and directing affected banks to stop outward transactions.
Court documents showed that Achimugu subsequently filed an application on May 25, 2025, seeking to set aside the order, arguing that its continued enforcement amounted to an abuse of court process.
She also complained that while the freezing order remained in force, the EFCC, through a letter dated April 24, 2025, directed SunTrust Bank to transfer funds from one of the affected accounts to a Central Bank of Nigeria/EFCC recovery account.
On August 27, 2025, the Federal High Court ruled that the transfer of N1.8bn from account number 0001313173 domiciled with SunTrust Bank was unlawful and ordered the money to be immediately returned.
The account was said to be linked to one of the companies associated with Achimugu.
Dissatisfied with the decision, the EFCC approached the Court of Appeal on three grounds.
EFCC Challenges Lower Court Ruling
The anti-graft agency argued that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to deliver its ruling during its annual vacation.
It also contended that the trial court granted a relief that had not been specifically requested and thereby denied the commission fair hearing.
The EFCC further argued that the lower court failed to properly evaluate affidavit evidence relating to the identities and balances of the accounts involved.
Achimugu’s lawyers, however, maintained that the trial court acted within its powers by ordering the reversal of funds allegedly transferred from a frozen account.
They argued that the directive was a consequential order aimed at preserving the effect of the existing freezing order.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Sirajo held that delivering a reserved judgment during the annual court vacation did not amount to conducting general legal business.
The court said such a situation did not occasion a miscarriage of justice.
The appellate court also dismissed the EFCC’s claim that it was denied fair hearing, noting that both parties had filed further affidavits dealing with the disputed transfer.
The court held that a “reasonable person looking at the exchange of these detailed further affidavits would conclude that both parties were fully heard on the issue of transfer of funds”.
It further ruled that a court which grants a freezing order has the power to issue consequential orders necessary to preserve the subject matter of the case.
“An order compelling the reversal of funds moved out of a frozen account during the pendency of the freezing order, and without leave, is a consequential order incidental to the preservation of the res,” the court held.
Court Faults Evidence On ₦1.8 Billion
The appellate court, however, upheld the EFCC’s argument on the identity of the account from which the ₦1.8 billion was transferred.
It found that the accounts specifically frozen on April 10, 2025, included Drive.FGC.Net’s current account number 0001313173, which had a balance of ₦50,518,009.57, and Felak Concepts Limited’s current account number 0001252281, with a balance of ₦16,220,608.37.
According to the court, those balances remained intact.
The court found that larger sums, including the ₦1.8 billion, were held in different accounts, while ₦7.79 billion was connected to internal ledger accounts numbered 2010155010 and 2010155011.
The panel faulted the trial court for treating the accounts as identical without explaining how an account with about ₦50 million could also have produced ₦1.8 billion for transfer.
“I find that the material before the court did not establish that the funds transferred under Exhibit FF2 emanated from any account frozen by the order of 10th April 2025,” Sirajo said.
Consequently, the appellate court set aside the order directing the return of the N1.8bn to the account.
It, however, stressed that its decision did not amount to a declaration that the EFCC’s transfer of the money was lawful.
Court Vacates 15-Month Freezing Order
On the substantive application challenging the continued freezing of Achimugu’s accounts, the appellate court held that allowing an ex parte order to remain in force for more than 15 months amounted to an abuse of court process and a violation of the rule of law.
The court explained that an ex parte freezing order was intended to be temporary and should only preserve disputed funds for a short period pending the hearing of the substantive application.
The court ruled, “In the result, the appeal succeeds in part. The first and second issues are resolved against the appellant (EFCC).
“The third issue is resolved in the appellant’s favour. In the final analysis, the ruling of the trial Court directing the reversal of ₦1,800,000,000.00 is set aside on the ground of lack of proper evaluation of evidence.
“Accordingly, the ex-parte interim freezing order granted by the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt Division, on 10th April, 2025 in Suit No. FHC/PH/MISC/178/2025, restricting and freezing the bank accounts of the Respondent, Aisha Achimugu Sulaiman, and corporate entities linked to her, is hereby discharged and vacated in its entirety.”
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