Godwin Emefiele, the former Governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank (CBN), is asking the Court of Appeal to cancel the court orders that took away 753 duplex houses in Abuja from him.

In an appeal filed on April 30, 2025, Emefiele said the court’s decision to seize the houses was made without enough proof. He believes the process was unfair and wants the orders reversed.

Back in December 2024, the anti-corruption agency known as the EFCC won the final right to take over the houses. This was after a judge from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Jude Onwegbuzie, made a ruling.

The EFCC said this case was its biggest asset recovery since it started working in 2003. They did not name who the houses belonged to but said it was a former top government official.

At first, the property was linked to a company that said it did not own the houses. But Emefiele’s lawyer, A.M. Kotoye, joined the court case, saying Emefiele has a right to the property.

In April, Emefiele went back to the FCT High Court asking to get the houses back. He also asked for more time to challenge the court orders made in December 2024.

Emefiele said he was not properly informed about the court case. He claimed that the EFCC put the notice of the seizure in a hard-to-find part of a newspaper, so he could not respond on time.

However, the judge dismissed this claim. He said the law clearly explains how the seizure notice should be shared. The judge added that the half-page notice published in a national newspaper was clear and not hidden.

Recently, the EFCC gave the seized duplexes to the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development for use.