The Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt has nullified an interim order that froze 124 bank accounts linked to businesswoman Aisha Achimugu and her associated companies, describing the prolonged enforcement of the ex parte order for over 15 months as an abuse of judicial process.
The unanimous ruling was delivered on Wednesday by a three-member panel made up of Justices Muhammad Ibrahim Sirajo, Ishaq Mohammed Sani and Eleojo Enenche, who overturned the order earlier issued by the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt on April 10, 2025.
The matter originated from proceedings involving the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), following a Federal High Court decision delivered on August 27, 2025.
The Federal High Court, presided over by Justice Turaki Adamu, had granted the EFCC’s request to temporarily freeze the accounts belonging to Achimugu, the founder of Oceangate Engineering Oil & Gas Ltd, while directing financial institutions to stop all withdrawals and transfers from them.
Challenging the decision, Achimugu urged the court to dismiss the freezing order, arguing that it was improperly obtained. She also alleged that despite the order remaining in force, the EFCC instructed SunTrust Bank through a letter dated April 24, 2025, to move funds from one of the restricted accounts into the CBN/EFCC recovery account.
