Court orders interim forfeiture of N1.1bn allegedly linked to Kano State government

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the temporary forfeiture of over N1.1 billion allegedly withdrawn illegally from the Kano State Federation Account domiciled with United Bank for Africa (UBA).
Justice Emeka Nwite made the order on Tuesday after granting an ex-parte application filed by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) through its counsel, Oluwafunke Bada.

The judge held that the application was meritorious and accordingly granted it.
Justice Nwite also directed that the interim forfeiture order be published in a national newspaper to enable any interested person to appear before the court and show cause why the funds should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government. He adjourned the matter to January 21, 2026, for a report on compliance.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2634/2025, listed the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) and the sum of N1,109,230,000.00 domiciled in an ICPC recovery account as respondents. The suit was dated December 3 and filed on December 8, 2025, by Z.S. Nass, an Assistant Director with the ICPC.
The anti-corruption agency sought two reliefs, including an interim order forfeiting to the FRN the sum of N1,109,230,000.00, which it said was recovered during investigations into Petition No. ICPC/P/NC/564/2024 and was reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
The commission also asked the court to order that the forfeiture notice be published in a national newspaper to allow any interested party to appear before the court within a specified time to show cause why a final forfeiture order should not be made in favour of the Federal Government.
In an affidavit in support of the motion, deposed to by David Nelson, an Anti-Corruption Assistant with the ICPC, the commission stated that it received a petition dated August 19, 2024, from concerned citizens of Kano State. The petition alleged that N2.3 billion was withdrawn in cash from the Kano State Federation Account domiciled with UBA and allegedly used for purposes unrelated to government business.
Nelson said investigations revealed that on November 9, 2023, the Accountant-General of Kano State, Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, authorised the payment of N1.1 billion to two Bureau de Change (BDC) firms—Namu Na Kune Global Resources Ltd and Kazo Nazo Global Concept.
He stated that the Accountant-General submitted two letters of authority to the Kano State Government House, purportedly signed by the managing directors of A.Y. Maikifi Oil & Gas Ltd and Ammas Petroleum Company Ltd, requesting payments for the supply of diesel to the state government.
The letters requested payment of N539 million to Kazo Nazo Global Concept and three payments of N570 million, N48 million and N14.9 million to Namu Na Kune Global Resources Ltd.
Nelson said the ICPC invited the managing directors of the two oil companies—Yamta Audu of A.Y. Maikifi Oil & Gas Ltd and Ahmad Bello Hamza of Ammas Petroleum Company Ltd—for questioning. According to him, both men told the commission that they signed the letters at the request of the Kano State Accountant-General, who claimed the state government needed assistance to release funds for certain financial obligations.
In their written statements, the two managing directors reportedly stated that the contracts referenced in the letters did not exist and that no diesel or alum was ever supplied to the Kano State Government by their companies.
Further investigations, Nelson said, showed that after the undated letters of authority were received at the Office of the Commissioner for Water Resources on November 7, 2023, the Kano State Government paid N585 million each to Kazo Nazo Global Concept and Namu Na Kune Global Resources Ltd on October 9, 2023, amounting to N1.17 billion.
He alleged that the funds were converted into one million US dollars and handed over in cash to Ghali Muhammad Dahiru for onward delivery to Abdullahi Ibrahim Rogo, the Director of Protocol at the Kano State Government House.
According to Nelson, Dahiru delivered the $1 million to Rogo at the Kano State Liaison Office in Asokoro, Abuja, as directed by Nasiru Adamu. He added that Rogo admitted receiving the money in a statement made to the ICPC on September 9, 2025.
The affidavit further stated that the ICPC recovered a total of N1,109,230,000.00 out of the N1.17 billion in two instalments of N570 million and N539,230,000 on February 27 and March 21, respectively.
Nelson said granting an interim forfeiture order would be in the interest of justice to preserve the funds pending public notice and further proceedings, a position upheld by the court.