ABUJA – The Supreme Court has upheld the final forfeiture of N1.582 billion linked to Steve Ogidan, a former National Coordinating Consultant of the Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), affirming that the funds should remain with the Federal Government.
In a unanimous judgment delivered by a five-member panel led by Justice Habeeb Adewale Abiru, the apex court dismissed Ogidan’s appeal, affirming the earlier decision of the Court of Appeal, which had upheld the forfeiture order made by the Federal High Court.
The Supreme Court described Ogidan’s suit as lacking merit and ordered him to pay the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) N5 million as the cost of the action.
Justice Abiru further noted that Ogidan and other parties involved had voluntarily returned the disputed funds as part of an out-of-court settlement, a development the court said further justified the final forfeiture order granted by the trial court.
The EFCC had launched investigations after uncovering what it described as reasonable suspicion that the money was acquired through unlawful means, particularly alleged bribery payments from consultants whom Ogidan was responsible for monitoring and supervising under the NIRSAL programme.
Acting through its counsel, Ndeh Godspower Isotu, the anti-graft agency approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice I.E. Ekwo, and secured an interim forfeiture order on February 5, 2024. The court later granted a final forfeiture of the funds.
Unhappy with the decision, Ogidan challenged the ruling at the Court of Appeal, arguing that the trial court wrongly applied the provisions of Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud Act in ordering the forfeiture of the funds to the Federal Government.
However, the appellate court, in a judgment delivered on June 20, 2025, dismissed his appeal and upheld the forfeiture, prompting him to approach the Supreme Court, where he again lost.
The EFCC’s investigation further revealed that between December 2015 and June 2021, eight consulting firms linked to Ogidan received a cumulative ₦9.599 billion from NIRSAL.
The companies include Successory Nigeria Limited, Beresh Consulting Limited, Blue Accord Nigeria Limited, Global Knowledge Consulting Limited, Freshvine Agribiz Limited, Richtigen Limited, O Stevens Consulting, and Proteus and Enterprise Aesthetics.
With the apex court’s verdict, the legal battle over the forfeited N1.582 billion has now been brought to a final close.
