Aisha Achimugu, the owner of Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd, has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of “oppression, character assassination, intimidation, and the deliberate dissipation of my lawfully acquired personal property”.
In a press statement issued on Wednesday, Achimugu stated that her reputation has been “unfairly questioned” and investments have suffered losses due to “misleading information” from the anti-graft agency.
The businesswoman claimed that her life, children, and investments were in jeopardy due to “persecution” by the authorities.
On July 16, a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) high court in Apo granted the federal government final confiscation of Achimugu-related property.
The properties include jewellery worth N4,645,170,294.9 billion, 11 exotic cars valued at N4.293 billion, $50,000, and N30 million in cash.
In March, a federal high court in Abuja issued an order of ultimate forfeiture of $13 million owed to Achimugu and her company, Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Limited.
The verdict followed a petition filed by the EFCC challenging the ownership of the cash, which it claimed was the proceeds of illegal activity.
In January 2024, Achimugu made news when she lit up the Caribbean island of Grenada with a seven-day 50th birthday party attended by some of Nigeria’s most prominent figures and entertainment industry stars.
Over a year later, the EFCC proclaimed Achimugu sought on money laundering charges. On April 29, 2025, the EFCC detained the businesswoman at Abuja’s Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.
‘EFCC’S MALICIOUS ACTIONS AGAINST ME’
The entrepreneur stated that the “malicious nature” of the EFCC’s operation was revealed when the agency declared her wanted despite knowing her location and exchanging letters with her.
Achimugu said that 30 EFCC agents “invaded my home, terrorized my family, embarrassed my environment, and carted away all my jewellery, safes, and personal funds in a cruel and unprofessional manner for reasons best known to them” after she was proclaimed wanted.
She went on to say that her mother, who had just returned from spine surgery overseas, was compelled to sit for hours and “emotionally humiliated with no consideration for her age or health”.
Achimugu stated that the $13 million forfeited by her firm was intended to pay for oil blocks to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
“As part of the same push, a further media campaign attempted to link me to US$7,000,000 allegedly abandoned in a bank, a claim contradicted by the same clear payment tellers already submitted to NUPRC, showing $2,000,000 paid through a South African Bank in South Africa directly to NUPRC’s designated account on PPL 3007 and $5,000,000 on PPL 302 as part of Oceangate’s proof of payment,” the statement reads.
“Yet, the EFCC continued to pursue the claim in court files and on social media. In the ongoing endeavor to undermine my reputation.
“After failing to prove that particular accusation, the EFCC shifted its focus to the remainder of the NUPRC payment that my company submitted.
“Thirteen million dollars ($13,000,000) out of the total twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) combined payment for both PPL 302-DO and PPL 3007 by Oceangate Oil & Gas Limited into NUPRC’s federal government account, which the EFCC also acknowledged in the motion submitted to their claim, which was made subject to an ex-parte forfeiture order obtained by the EFCC at the Federal High Court, without any established case or existing petition.”
“That order has been challenged on appeal, and I am awaiting the outcome. On January 20, 2026, while both that appeal and my earlier suit over the first home invasion were still pending, EFCC operatives invaded my private home for the second time and removed all vehicles on the premises by crane and flatbed, with no regard for ownership, damage, or safety, abandoning them to the elements with no record of offense committed.
“When I sought the court’s intervention for the return of all my vehicles after 6 months, and other seized personal items for nearly 2 years, the EFCC, rather than defending that suit in the Federal High Court, obtained a further ex parte order of forfeiture from the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory on the same suit before them.
Achimugu said that the EFCC’s “continuous and calculated smearing” of her name has cost her many cash chances.
“The EFCC did not stop at nothing; they also directed that my visa be revoked by the American Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, for merely declaring me wanted, which was unjustified,” she claimed.
“It is well known that visa revocations are initiated by the Department of State in Washington, not as a result of a purported uncompleted investigation.
“I received the revocation email on April 4, 2025, seven days after being proclaimed sought by the EFCC. The most upsetting and painful protracted malice was addressed to the American Embassy in Bridgetown (Barbados), which represents my second citizenship.
“I discovered the most devastating information when I was unable to proceed with an application for a visa on my Grenada passport to attend my already booked and scheduled Harvard executive program, despite knowing that my American visa revocation was only showing as active in Nigerian records.
“So I thought I could get a waiver, but the worst was discovered when I was told I could not until I am clear with my birth country.”
She continued, “I’ve never been known to cause issues. I am not a criminal, and I have never been convicted of an offense. I have never been charged with a crime that I did not admit to.”