ICPC Secures Final Forfeiture of Hotel, ₦14.1m Linked to Ex-ExxonMobil Staff Over Fake Credentials

ICPC has secured the final forfeiture of hotel and ₦14.1m linked to Ex-ExxonMobil Staff over fake credentials.

NewsOnline Nigeria reports that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has obtained a final court order forfeiting Hevee Hotel and the sum of ₦14,160,655.35 traced to a former ExxonMobil employee who secured his job with falsified documents.

The assets were linked to the late Mr. Okon Tom Ekpo, an ex-staff of ExxonMobil Producing Company. An ICPC investigation uncovered that Ekpo gained employment by impersonating another person and submitting forged academic certificates, prompting criminal proceedings against him at the Ikeja High Court.

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During plea bargain discussions, Ekpo agreed to relinquish Hevee Hotel, situated at Alafia Estate off the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, along with funds in his UBA account. On December 9, 2022, the Commission filed an in-rem forfeiture application at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi.

On January 13, 2023, Justice T. G. Ringim issued an interim forfeiture order and instructed the ICPC to publish public notices. The Commission complied by circulating notices in Leadership, The Sun, and the national gazette on March 16, 2023. After submitting proof of compliance and moving for a final order, the court, on March 23, 2024, granted the permanent forfeiture of the hotel and ₦14.1 million to the Federal Government.

Following the ruling, Ekpo’s wife filed an application seeking to overturn the forfeiture, alleging fraud in the court process. The ICPC’s legal team, Mrs. Yvonne William-Mbata, Mrs. Roseline Eze, and Mrs. Yemisi Pereira argued that the court had become functus officio, meaning it no longer had jurisdiction to reopen the matter after the final order had been issued.

Delivering judgment on November 21, 2025, Justice Owoeye of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, dismissed the application for lacking merit. The court held that no evidence of fraud was presented and reaffirmed that it had no authority to revisit a concluded forfeiture proceeding.

The ICPC hailed the ruling as a major judicial milestone, reinforcing established principles on in-rem forfeiture under Sections 47 and 48 of the ICPC Act, 2000, and strengthening Nigeria’s asset recovery framework in the fight against corruption.