A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered Aisha Achimugu, an ally of Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to appear before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over allegations of money laundering and criminal conspiracy.
Justice I.E. Ekwo gave the order on Monday. He directed Ms Achimugu to meet with the EFCC on Tuesday and appear before the court on Wednesday.
The ruling came after Ms Achimugu filed a case against several security agencies, including the EFCC, the Nigeria Police Force, the ICPC, the SSS, the NSCDC, and the NIS. Her case is marked FHC/ABJ/CS/626/2025.
This development follows the EFCC’s decision last month to declare Ms Achimugu wanted. Anti-graft agents allege that she helped move public funds to politicians like Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party through Governor Sanwo-Olu.
EFCC lawyer Ekele Iheanacho told the court that an investigator, Chris Odofin, had submitted a document explaining why Ms Achimugu was invited.
The EFCC said Ms Achimugu had first honoured their invitation on February 12, 2024. She wrote a statement and was granted bail through her lawyer and surety, Darlington Ozurumba. However, she later failed to return for further questioning and instead sued the agency.
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In her defence, Ms Achimugu claimed that the N8.71 billion found in her company accounts was “investment funds” meant for buying an oil block. She said her company, Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited, had paid the money into the Federal Government’s account and presented documents from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) as proof.
But EFCC investigators said they found that Ms Achimugu’s company acquired two oil blocks, Shallow Water PPL 3007 and Deep Offshore PPL 302-DO, for $25.3 million. They said the payments were made in cash through bureau de change operators and that the real sources of the money were unknown.
“The applicant operates a total of 136 bank accounts across ten different banks,” the EFCC added.
The anti-graft agency also told the court that Ms Achimugu’s lawsuit was an attempt to stop the investigation, even though another court had earlier dismissed her claims of rights violations.
The case will continue on Wednesday, after Ms Achimugu reports to the EFCC as ordered.