Supreme court affirms forfeiture of N1.58bn linked to former NIRSAL consultant

By Adebola Isimijola, Lagos

The Supreme Court has upheld the forfeiture of N1.582 billion linked to a former National Coordinating Consultant of the Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), Steve Ogidan, to the Federal Government.

According to a statement by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the apex court, in a judgment delivered on June 19, 2026, dismissed Ogidan’s appeal for lacking merit and ordered him to pay N5 million as the cost of the suit.

The EFCC said the five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Habeeb Adewale Abiru, affirmed the earlier judgment of the Court of Appeal, which upheld the final forfeiture order granted by the Federal High Court.

The anti-graft agency said the court also noted that Ogidan and his associates had voluntarily returned the disputed funds through an out-of-court settlement, describing the action as further validating the trial court’s decision to order the final forfeiture.

According to the commission, investigations revealed reasonable grounds to suspect that the funds were proceeds of unlawful activities, including alleged bribery from consultants whom Ogidan was responsible for monitoring and supervising.

The EFCC said it obtained an interim forfeiture order from the Federal High Court in Abuja on February 5, 2024, before securing a final forfeiture of the funds. Ogidan’s subsequent appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on June 20, 2025, a decision now affirmed by the Supreme Court.

The commission further disclosed that its investigation showed that between December 2015 and June 2021, eight companies linked to Ogidan received a total of N9.599 billion from NIRSAL.

The companies are 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.