Court Orders Final Forfeiture of ‘N150m Kickback’ Linked to Delta Rep

A federal high court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of N150 million linked to Nicholas Mutu, lawmaker representing Bomadi/Patani constituency of Delta state in the house of representatives, to the federal government.

In a judgment delivered on Thursday, Joyce Abdulmalik, presiding judge, held that the money constituted proceeds of unlawful activities and granted the application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The anti-graft agency had approached the court through its counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, seeking the forfeiture under section 44(2) of the 1999 constitution and section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act.

The court had earlier granted an interim forfeiture order and directed that it be published in a national newspaper to allow interested parties to challenge the application.

According to the EFCC, no sufficient cause was shown after the publication to prevent the funds from being permanently forfeited.

In the judgment, Abdulmalik said the commission had established that the N150 million, which Mutu refunded during the investigation, was the proceeds of unlawful activities.

The EFCC told the court that its investigation showed Mutu allegedly received kickbacks totalling N400.16 million from Starline Consultancy Services, an NDDC consultant, while serving as chairman of the house of representatives committee on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The commission alleged that the payments were routed through the Heritage Bank accounts of Airworld Technologies Ltd and Oyien Homes Ltd, companies in which Mutu is a director and majority shareholder.

According to the EFCC, the other shareholders and directors of the companies are Mutu’s wife and other immediate family members.

The agency said the consultant had sought the intervention of the house committee to recover debts owed to the NDDC by oil and gas companies operating in the Niger Delta.

The anti-graft agency said following the committee’s intervention, the companies reconciled their outstanding liabilities and more than N100 billion was recovered for the intervention agency.

The EFCC alleged that although the consultant received its professional fees, part of the money was paid to companies linked to Mutu as kickback.

The commission further claimed that during its investigation, Mutu procured the consultant to issue a subcontract to Airworld Technologies Ltd to justify the payments.

According to the EFCC, the consultant later admitted that the subcontract was a cover and that no work was carried out by Mutu’s company.

The commission also told the court that although Mutu refunded N150 million during the investigation, he later argued that the refund was not voluntary and maintained that the payments to his companies arose from legitimate business transactions.

The EFCC said it has already appealed the judgment of F.O.G. Ogunbanjo, who discharged and acquitted Mutu in a money laundering trial based on the same facts.