Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has intensified probe of the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of
Providus Bank, Mr. Walter Akpani over $7millon abandoned in the vault of the Victoria Island branch of the bank on March 25 and 26, 2025.
Stakeholders are worried that Akpani, a banker with over three decades of experience who also holds a Master of Science degree in Finance from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland could not provide the CCTV footages of the depositor despite the CCTV camera installed in the bank.
The money was deposited under suspicious circumstances in cash. Instead of paying it into a customer’s account, the money was deposited into the vaults of ProvidusBank, which was unusual and suspicious .
An anonymous whistleblower who also works at the bank and who serves as a spy for the EFCC alerted the anti-corruption agency of the unusual transactions that just occurred at the bank.
Providus Bank reportedly failed to file a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), raising further concerns and red flag about the legitimacy of the transaction.
Acting on that intelligence, the staff of the EFCC swooped on the Providus headquarters unaware, and the EFCC officials demanded for the money, leaving with some bank staff for proper interrogation.
On further interrogation, the arrested bank staff revealed that the $7 million belongs to Aisha Achimugu, the CEO of Ocean Gate Petroleum.
Aisha was invited by the EFCC to explain the source of the money.
She denied depositing that kind of money, claiming she borrowed $7 million loan from Providus Bank and had yet to pay back.
For proper context, the value of $7 million is 11.2 billions when you convert it to Naira using the exchange rate of 1,600 to $1 at the time of the transaction.
Based on this, the EFCC put up an advert in national newspapers, inviting whoever owned the contentious $7 million to come forward and explain its source.
However, nobody came forward to claim the money.
The EFCC has since recovered the funds and transferred same to the Central Bank of Nigeria for safekeeping.
Given the absence of legitimate claimants and the suspicious nature of the transaction, the commission went to court to secure the final forfeiture of the $7 million to the federal government.
Recall that NATIONAL WAVES had reported three day ago that a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja ordered the forfeiture of $7millon abandoned in the vault of Providus Bank to the Federal Government.
The EFCC secured a final court order to take possession of $7 million discovered in the vault of Providus Bank Limited, following a ruling by the Federal High Court on Monday.
Justice Emeka Nwite granted the order after the EFCC proved that the funds were proceeds of unlawful activity and that no legitimate claimant came forward to contest ownership.
EFCC counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), told the court that the anti-graft agency had met all legal requirements after an interim forfeiture order was granted on August 27. He noted that despite public notices, no opposition was filed against the forfeiture request.
“Since August 27 when your lordship granted the interim order, till date, we have not received any opposition. Hence, we filed a motion for final forfeiture,” Oyedepo said.
The suspicious funds were allegedly moved into Providus Bank’s Victoria Island branch between March 25 and 26, but were never credited to any customer account. Instead, investigators found the cash kept in the bank’s vault without documentation.
An EFCC affidavit revealed that the money was linked to Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited, though the company’s Managing Director denied making such a deposit, claiming instead to have obtained a $7 million loan from the bank.
The EFCC faulted Providus Bank for failing to file a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), describing the transaction as a breach of financial compliance obligations.
Justice Nwite, in his ruling, said the commission had established merit in its application and ordered the permanent forfeiture of the money to the Federal Government.
The funds, earlier recovered in cash, are now in the custody of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Credit: National Wave