N941 million forfeiture: 70 Nigerians accuse ICPC of mixing up bank accounts

About 70 Nigerians have urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to set aside its N941 million final forfeiture order made on July 13, 2026, over an alleged bank account “mistake” made by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

This was disclosed in their motion on notice filed on July 16, 2026, by their lawyer, Abbas Ochogwu, Esq. and seen by Nairametrics.

Nairametrics reports that the legal development is linked to an alleged Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) payroll fraud investigation embarked upon by the ICPC since 2024.

What they are saying

The third parties/applicants, Oche Samuel, Kate Nkechinyere, Itodo Caroline and 67 others, through their counsel, Ochogwu, argued in the motion that although his clients were not joined as parties to the forfeiture suit instituted by the ICPC, their bank accounts were nevertheless recorded against “the names of unknown persons joined as respondents to the suit.”

• The motion cited Arilewola,Mr Olusanya Matthew (Access Bank/Acct: 0050850808), Adamu, Mr Nuhu (Zenith Bank/Acct: 2009139503), and 907 others as respondents in the ICPC case in which the forfeiture orders were made.

The lawyer also sought an order setting aside the restrictions placed on the bank accounts belonging to his clients (third-party applicants), which have remained frozen since November 2024 without any court order.

• He stated that rather than unfreezing the accounts of the third parties/applicants, the ICPC had instead “mistakenly recorded the third parties’ bank accounts against the names of some of the respondents who are not the owners of those accounts.”

He argued that the third parties/applicants were not given any opportunity to be heard on the ICPC’s motion on notice before the forfeiture orders affecting their…