By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
Nigerian businesswoman, investor and philanthropist, Aisha Achimugu (OFR) has publicly accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and its leadership of orchestrating sustained campaign of persecution, media trial and violations of her constitutional rights, while calling on the National Assembly, the Judiciary, security agencies, human rights organisations and the international community to intervene in what she described as threat to her life, family, businesses and investments.
In a lengthy statement released recently, Achimugu said the events she described spanned nearly two years and involved the freezing of her personal and corporate bank accounts, multiple court proceedings, the seizure of assets, alleged disregard for court orders, damage to her international business reputation and restrictions affecting her global mobility.
She maintained that the actions against her had placed her life, the lives of her children, the health of her aged parents and the future of her businesses at risk.
Achimugu, an accountant and widow of the late Engr. Sulaiman Achimugu, former Managing Director of the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), said she had spent decades building indigenous businesses across several sectors while contributing to Nigeria’s economy through investments, employment and philanthropy.
According to her, she chose to remain silent for several months despite widespread publicity surrounding investigations involving her because she believed restraint was in the national interest and wanted to avoid further escalation.
She said her silence had, however, been wrongly interpreted as an admission of guilt.
She recalled that during the development of the Ibaka Deep Sea Port project, she had worked extensively with government agencies and embarked on an international roadshow across more than 30 countries to promote the initiative, describing the experience as evidence of Nigeria’s capacity to support indigenous entrepreneurs.
Achimugu alleged that her ordeal began in 2023 when the Port Harcourt Zonal Office of the EFCC secured an interim forfeiture order from the Federal High Court after allegedly informing the court that she was a partner, associate, director or shareholder of MBA Forex and Capital Investment.
She denied ever owning or holding any interest in MBA Forex, insisting that her company’s only relationship with the firm involved a single business transaction for which payment had been received before the Central Bank of Nigeria publicly declared MBA Forex a Ponzi scheme.
According to her, following an invitation from the EFCC in January 2024, she and her legal representatives appeared before investigators and explained the nature of that transaction.
She further stated that her company refunded N58 million through a bank draft into the EFCC recovery account to resolve every issue connected with the transaction, adding that she understood the matter had been settled.
She also rejected suggestions that she failed to honour invitations by the anti-graft agency.
Providing a chronology of events, Achimugu said she received a WhatsApp invitation on Tuesday, 4 March, 2025 from an unfamiliar telephone number requesting her appearance at the EFCC’s Port Harcourt office the following day.
She explained that she was outside Nigeria at the time and immediately informed the sender of her inability to attend.
According to her, her lawyer also submitted a formal letter to the Port Harcourt office on March 5, notifying the commission that she would be unavailable until the third week of April because she remained abroad.
She added that after receiving additional calls and WhatsApp messages on March 9, her lawyer wrote directly to the EFCC Chairman on March 12, enclosing previous correspondence and confirming that she would be available on April 27 and 28, 2025.
Achimugu argued that the documented exchange of correspondence demonstrated that she neither absconded nor ignored the commission’s invitation but maintained continuous communication with investigators.
She alleged that while the correspondence was ongoing, a coordinated media campaign emerged on March 10, 2025, portraying her as being involved in criminal activities. She described the reports as false, malicious and deliberately designed to damage her reputation locally and internationally.
According to Achimugu, the situation intensified on March 28, 2025, after her company, Oceangate Oil & Gas Limited, completed payments totalling $20 million to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) for the acquisition of Petroleum Prospecting Licences PPL 302-DO and PPL 3007.
She claimed that approximately four hours after proof of the payments had been submitted to the NUPRC, the EFCC declared her wanted over allegations of conspiracy and money laundering.
Achimugu further alleged that more than 30 armed operatives subsequently invaded her residence, searched the premises and removed jewellery, safes and cash.
She described the operation as intimidating and maintained that she had committed no offence warranting such action.
She stated that she later instituted a fundamental rights enforcement suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja, where the court ordered that the status quo be maintained pending further proceedings.
According to her, despite the subsisting court order and prior communication regarding her return to Nigeria, EFCC operatives arrested her at the airport on April 28, 2025, upon her arrival from abroad and took her to the commission’s headquarters.
She alleged that she was presented with an asset declaration form, which she only partially completed because she believed it did not apply to her as a private-sector operator, but claimed she was instructed to fill it regardless.
Achimugu further alleged that she was later granted administrative bail with conditions requiring two Level 16 civil servants and two properties with original Certificates of Occupancy before spending the night in custody.
She stated that although a court subsequently granted her bail and ordered her release within 24 hours, she remained in detention for an additional five days despite meeting the bail conditions.
She also claimed that the EFCC required her to surrender her international passport.
Following her release, Achimugu said she returned home to discover that her elderly mother, who had recently undergone spinal surgery abroad, had allegedly been subjected to prolonged questioning by EFCC operatives during the earlier search of her residence.
She maintained that the experience significantly affected her mother’s health and prompted another fundamental rights action against the commission.
She further alleged that the EFCC expanded its investigation by freezing all accounts connected to her and her companies and later relied on provisions of the Advance Fee Fraud Act to trace, seize and seek forfeiture of assets without any criminal complaint or established offence.
Achimugu also disputed allegations linking her to an alleged abandoned $7 million, insisting that the funds in question formed part of documented payments made by Oceangate Oil & Gas Limited to the NUPRC.
She stated that payment records showed $2 million was transferred through a South African bank for PPL 3007, while $5 million was paid toward PPL 302 as part of the company’s acquisition obligations.
According to her, after those allegations failed, the EFCC pursued the forfeiture of the remaining $13 million out of the $20 million paid by her company into the Federal Government’s designated NUPRC account through an ex parte court order, which she said is currently being challenged on appeal.
She further alleged that on January 20, 2026, while previous legal actions remained pending, EFCC operatives returned to her residence and removed every vehicle found on the premises using cranes and flatbed trucks without regard to ownership or possible damage.
According to Achimugu, when she sought judicial orders compelling the return of her vehicles and other personal property, the commission instead secured another ex parte forfeiture order from the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory concerning the same assets.
She said the cumulative impact of the investigations had resulted in the closure or loss of more than nine international bank accounts, some of which had existed for over three decades, while several international financing opportunities and business partnerships had also collapsed.
Achimugu maintained that the prolonged publicity surrounding the investigations had severely affected her personal reputation, relationships and business interests and had caused emotional distress to her children and parents.
She disclosed that she had invested nearly $90 million in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector within the last five years and claimed to have attracted investments exceeding $100 million into the country’s economy.
She also highlighted the activities of the Sam Empowerment Foundation (SEF), stating that the organisation had implemented more than 1,000 health programmes, supplied oxygen to health centres, supported over one million beneficiaries through various interventions, built schools, primary healthcare centres, mosques, churches, sanitation facilities and community water projects, awarded scholarships to more than 2,000 Nigerians, operated food banks for vulnerable families, conducted over 3,000 community outreach programmes and provided educational support for more than 10,000 children.
Achimugu further alleged that the EFCC influenced the revocation of her United States visa following her declaration as a wanted person.
She said she received notification of the revocation on April 4, 2025, seven days after the announcement.
She also claimed that information describing her as a Nigerian with Grenadian citizenship wanted for money laundering and criminal conspiracy was communicated internationally, affecting her ability to obtain another U.S. visa through Barbados and preventing her from attending a Harvard executive programme for which she had already secured admission.
According to her, the international publicity also negatively affected a $1.5 billion oil agreement involving Oceangate Oil & Gas in Grenada.
Throughout the statement, Achimugu maintained that she had never been convicted of any criminal offence and insisted she remained prepared to submit herself to lawful investigations provided due process and the rule of law were observed.
She appealed to the National Assembly, the Judiciary, security agencies, local and international human rights organisations, the media and Nigeria’s international partners to examine her case objectively and ensure the protection of her constitutional rights, privacy and investments.
She also called for respect for court orders, an end to what she described as a misleading media trial and the protection of legitimate investors operating in Nigeria.
Declaring that her life and those of her children, parents and employees were in danger, Achimugu urged authorities to safeguard her security, businesses, reputation and investments, insisting that no nation could achieve sustainable economic growth without protecting lawful private-sector investments.
The EFCC had not responded to the allegations contained in Achimugu’s statement at the time of filing this report.
