A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the interim seizure of over ₦1.1 billion allegedly found in irregular transactions from the Kano State Federation account of the United Bank for Africa (UBA).
Justice Emeka Enwite gave the order on Tuesday following an ex parte application filed by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC). The application was argued by ICPC's lawyer Oluwafunke Bada, who urged the court to preserve the funds pending the conclusion of the investigation.
Envite held that the application was meritorious and granted interim forfeiture of the sum of ₦1,109,230,000. The judge further directed that the order be published in a national daily newspaper so that any interested party can appear before the court and show cause why the money should not be permanently confiscated to the federal government.
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A court document seen by BusinessDay shows that the case has been adjourned to January 21, 2026, for a report on compliance with the court's directions.
The suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2634/2025 lists the Federal Republic of Nigeria as the applicant and the recovered amount, which is currently deposited in the ICPC recovery account, as the subject of the confiscation proceedings. The case was filed on December 8, 2025 by ICPC Assistant Director ZS Nass.
According to court documents, the anti-corruption agency is investigating the money in connection with the petition titled ICPC/P/NC/564/2024. The ICPC said the money is reasonably suspected to be the proceeds of illegal activities and has been recovered during the ongoing investigation.
In an affidavit sworn by the commission's Anti-Corruption Assistant, David Nelson, the ICPC disclosed that it had received a petition dated August 19, 2024, from concerned citizens of Kano State. The petition alleged that ₦2.3 billion cash was withdrawn from the Kano State Federation account and used for purposes unrelated to official government business.
The affidavit further alleged that on November 9, 2023, the Kano State Accountant General, Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, authorized the transfer of ₦1.1 billion to two bureau de change companies. It was also claimed that $1 million in cash was later handed over to the Kano State Liaison Office in Asokoro, Abuja.
ICPC revealed that a total of ₦1,109,230,000 was recovered from the two companies in two tranches—₦570 million and ₦539.23 million—on February 27 and March 21 respectively.
The Commission argued that granting an interim confiscation order was necessary in the interest of justice, pending public notice and to determine whether a final confiscation order should be made in favor of the Federal Government.
