Court Orders Gen. Mohammed, Businessman To Forfeit N5bn Worth of Shares

MICHAEL AKINOLA

Justice Dehinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday ordered the final forfeiture of 245,568,137 shares, valued at over N5 billion, traced to Major General Umar Mohammed, former Group Managing Director of Nigerian Army Properties Limited (NAPL), and businessman Kayode Oladipupo Filani.

The order followed an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which alleged that the shares were acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities during Mohammed’s tenure as head of the Army’s property company.

EFCC counsel, Hanatu Kofanaisa, informed the court that a Special Court Martial had already convicted Mohammed on 14 of 18 counts bordering on stealing and related offences.

She argued that the Commission had met all requirements for the interim forfeiture order, including publication in a national daily, and noted that no objection had been filed against the application.

After reviewing the motion, Justice Dipeolu held that the EFCC’s application was meritorious and ordered the shares permanently forfeited to the Federal Government, for the benefit of Nigerian Army Properties Limited.

The judge ruled that since the statutory conditions for final forfeiture had been satisfied and no opposition was raised, the application must succeed.

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.

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 Mohammed.

Among the forfeited holdings are millions of shares in major companies including Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Conoil Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Eterna Plc, Flour Mills Plc, Japaul Gold & Ventures Plc, NASCON Allied Industries Plc, Oando Plc, University Press Plc, and Vitafoam Nigeria Plc. The stock portfolio also includes significant holdings in Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO), PZ Industries, Transcorp, Okomu Oil Palm, May & Baker, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Union Bank of Nigeria, and Unilever Nigeria Plc.

According to EFCC investigations, properties belonging to the Nigerian Army were illegally sold under Mohammed’s leadership, with proceeds diverted into stock acquisitions to conceal the origin of the funds.

In support of the application, EFCC investigator Nwike Fortune deposed to an affidavit detailing how Mohammed abused his office. He stated:

“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.”

He further explained that the proceeds from those sales were used to acquire the forfeited shares:

“Preliminary investigations revealed that proceeds of the sales of the properties were used in the acquisition of shares in different companies now sought to be finally forfeited. The stocks contained in the attached schedules were acquired with part of funds fraudulently obtained by Maj. Gen. Mohammed’s unlawful activities whilst Managing Director of Nigerian Army Properties Limited.”

The affidavit also disclosed that Mohammed, in an attempt to conceal the illicit funds, used his company, Awhua Resources Limited, to acquire the shares through accounts operated by Rowet Capital Management Limited and Resort Securities & Trust Limited.

The ruling comes after the EFCC had earlier secured the forfeiture of five properties also linked to Mohammed, following his conviction by a military court martial.