The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is demanding the permanent forfeiture of three properties linked to Timipre Sylva, former governor of Bayelsa State and ex-Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.
The case before Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the federal high court in Abuja concerns nine properties earlier placed under interim forfeiture orders following an application by the anti-graft agency.
The commission is now asking the court to grant a final forfeiture order covering three of the properties that remain unclaimed.
The matter was however adjourned for the EFCC to report compliance with earlier directives issued by the court.
At the previous sitting, the commission informed the court that several interested parties had filed affidavits explaining why some of the properties should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
However, according to the EFCC, three of the nine properties had attracted no ownership claims.
The commission subsequently filed an application asking the court to grant a final forfeiture order over the three assets, arguing that nobody had come forward to demonstrate a legitimate interest in them.
Justice Egwuatu, however, declined to consider the application at the time, noting that the motion was not available in the court’s file.
The judge also questioned whether the EFCC had properly served all interested parties with the relevant court processes.
EFCC counsel, Oluwaleke Atolagbe, acknowledged that only one of the parties who had filed affidavits to show cause had been served.
Atolagbe informed the court that the commission had complied with an earlier order directing it to publish the interim forfeiture notice in two national newspapers. He identified Tribune and Punch as the publications used.
He, however, admitted that the commission had yet to file an affidavit confirming its compliance with the court’s directives.
Following the explanation, the judge ordered the EFCC to publish its application for the final forfeiture of the three properties in the same manner as the earlier interim forfeiture notice.
The court also directed the commission to serve all outstanding court processes on interested parties and submit an affidavit showing that it had complied with the orders.
The three properties now at the centre of the commission’s final forfeiture application are: A block of 10 flats in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja; a block of six flats at No. 1, Mubi Close and a standalone duplex at No. 18, Nile Lake, Plot 1271, Maitama.
The case has been adjourned to February 23, 2027.
