The Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has discharged and vacated the interim order freezing the bank accounts of businesswoman and founder of Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Limited, Aisha Achimugu, along with accounts belonging to companies linked to her, ruling that the prolonged ex parte order violated the rule of law.

In a unanimous judgment delivered on Wednesday, a three-member panel comprising Justices Muhammad Ibrahim Sirajo, Ishaq Mohammed Sani and Eleojo Enenche set aside the ex parte freezing order granted by the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt on April 10, 2025. The order had frozen 124 bank accounts allegedly linked to Achimugu and her associated companies following an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

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The appeal stemmed from a legal dispute over the freezing of the accounts and the subsequent transfer of ₦1.8 billion from one of the affected accounts to an EFCC recovery account at the Central Bank of Nigeria. Achimugu had argued that the continued enforcement of the freezing order amounted to an abuse of court process and challenged the EFCC’s directive to SunTrust Bank to transfer the funds while the interim order remained in force.

While delivering the lead judgment, Justice Sirajo held that the Federal High Court acted within its powers by delivering a reserved judgment during the annual court vacation and dismissed the EFCC’s argument that it had been denied fair hearing. The appellate court also ruled that a court granting a freezing order has the authority to make consequential orders necessary to preserve the subject matter of a case.

However, the court upheld the EFCC’s argument regarding the source of the ₦1.8 billion, finding that the evidence before the lower court did not establish that the money originated from any of the accounts specifically frozen by the April 10, 2025 order. Consequently, the Court of Appeal set aside the Federal High Court’s directive ordering the return of the ₦1.8 billion, while stressing that its decision should not be interpreted as validating the EFCC’s transfer of the funds.

On the broader issue, the appellate court ruled that allowing an ex parte freezing order to remain in force for more than 15 months was contrary to the principles governing such orders and amounted to an abuse of court process.

“Accordingly, the ex-parte interim freezing order granted by the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt Division, on 10th April, 2025… restricting and freezing the bank accounts of the Respondent, Aisha Achimugu Sulaiman, and corporate entities linked to her, is hereby discharged and vacated in its entirety,” the court held.

The ruling marks a significant development in the legal battle between Achimugu and the EFCC, with the Court of Appeal lifting the restrictions on her bank accounts while partially allowing the anti-graft agency’s appeal on the issue of the disputed ₦1.8 billion.