Court vacates Achimugu account freeze

The Nigeria — Nigerian Courts of Appeal in Port Harcourt vacated an interim freezing order on 124 bank accounts belonging to businesswoman Aisha Achimugu and companies linked to her, including Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Ltd. The order, originally granted by the Nigeria — Federal High Court of Nigeria on April 10, 2025, at the request of the Nigeria — Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), had been in force for over 15 months. The appellate court ruled that such prolonged ex parte freezing constituted an abuse of court process. The court also set aside a lower court order directing the reversal of N1.8 billion transferred by the EFCC from a Truist Financial — SunTrust account to the Nigeria — Central Bank of Nigeria, finding insufficient evidence that the funds originated from accounts covered by the freezing order. The court clarified that its decision did not validate the EFCC's transfer.