Aisha Achimugu, a Nigerian accountant, business leader, and widow of the late Engr. Sulaiman Achimugu, has issued a public statement decrying what she describes as a sustained campaign of calumny, oppression, and intimidation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) under its current Chairman. She calls for the protection of her life, her children, her privacy, and over $100 million in investments across the oil and gas sector and other industries.
Background and allegations
Achimugu states that for nearly two years, she has been subjected to character assassination, asset dissipation, and media trials. She refutes any guilt, attributing her long silence to personal restraint and national interest. She highlights her contributions to the Nigerian economy, including proposing the Ibom Deep Sea Port project and representing Nigeria in an international roadshow across 30 countries.
In 2023, the EFCC Port Harcourt office froze all her personal and corporate bank accounts, as well as those of her children, based on an interim forfeiture order obtained under the mistaken premise that she was a partner or shareholder in MBA Forex and Capital Investment, a company later declared a Ponzi scheme by the CBN. She refunded N58 million related to a single transaction with MBA, believing the matter was resolved.
Escalation in March 2025
On 4 March 2025, Achimugu received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number inviting her to the EFCC Port Harcourt office. She was abroad and informed the EFCC of her unavailability until late April, with her lawyer hand-delivering a letter on 5 March. Despite this, she received aggressive calls and messages on 9 March. Her lawyer wrote to the EFCC Chairman on 12 March, confirming her availability for 27-28 April 2025.
On 10 March 2025, a coordinated campaign of blackmail and defamation began on social media, falsely linking her to criminal activities. On 28 March 2025, her company Oceangate Oil & Gas Limited made a $20 million payment to the NUPRC for two oil blocks. Just four hours later, the EFCC declared her a wanted person for conspiracy and money laundering. That evening, over 30 armed operatives invaded her home, terrorizing her family and seizing jewellery, safes, and personal funds.
Arrest and detention
Achimugu filed a fundamental rights suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, which ordered status quo maintained until 29 April 2025. She returned to Nigeria on 28 April 2025, but EFCC operatives arrested her at the airport despite the court order. She was detained overnight and taken to court the next day. The judge granted bail with conditions, ordering release within 24 hours, but her release was delayed by five days. She was also instructed to submit her international passport.
Upon returning home, she found her mother, who had just undergone spine surgery abroad, emotionally humiliated by EFCC operatives. Her mother's health has since been permanently compromised.
Continued asset seizures and media smear
The EFCC froze all her bank accounts for nearly two years, and later initiated asset tracing and forfeiture under the Advance Fee Fraud Act without any criminal complaint. A media campaign linked her to $7 million allegedly abandoned in a bank, contradicted by payment tellers submitted to NUPRC showing $2 million and $5 million payments. The EFCC then targeted the remaining $13 million of the NUPRC payment, obtaining an ex parte forfeiture order, which she is appealing.
On 20 January 2026, EFCC operatives invaded her home a second time, removing all vehicles by crane and flatbed, causing damage. When she sought court intervention, the EFCC obtained another ex parte forfeiture order from the High Court of the FCT.
Impact on life and investments
Achimugu has lost over nine international bank accounts, including one with 35 years of operating history, and her children's international upkeep allowance account. Financing opportunities have been cancelled due to the smear campaign. She has invested nearly $90 million in Nigeria's oil and gas sector in the last five years, attracted over $100 million in investment, and directly employs close to 200 Nigerians. Through her Sam Empowerment Foundation, she has implemented over 1,000 health programmes, empowered over one million people, built schools and health centres, provided scholarships to over 2,000 Nigerians, and supported over 10,000 children.
Her US visa was revoked on 4 April 2025, seven days after being declared wanted. She also discovered that the EFCC communicated her wanted status to the US Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados, affecting her ability to obtain a visa on her Grenadian passport to attend a Harvard executive programme. A Now Grenada publication linked her to a $1.5 billion oil deal in Grenada before she was declared wanted.
Call for intervention
Achimugu appeals to well-meaning Nigerians, the National Assembly, the Judiciary, security services, human rights activists, and international partners to examine her case. She emphasizes that legitimate investors should not have assets seized in defiance of court orders. She remains a proud Nigerian but states that her persecution began only under the current EFCC leadership. She declares that her life, her children's safety, her parents' health, her staff's lives, her global identity, and her investments are all in danger.
She calls for an end to the media trial and for due process to be followed, warning that if it can happen to her, it could happen to anyone. She urges support for a fair business environment in Nigeria and the rejection of defamatory information that harms the national economy.
