The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory has held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission acted unlawfully by directing Zenith Bank Plc to continue restricting an account belonging to Homadil Realty Limited without first obtaining a court order.
Justice M. A. Hassan delivered the judgment on April 23, 2026, in Suit No. FCT/HC/CV/830/2025, instituted by Rebecca Omokamo Godwin-Isaac and Homadil Realty Limited.
The court held that although the EFCC could temporarily restrict an account at the preliminary stage of an investigation, any continued restriction beyond the legally permitted period required judicial authorisation.
Justice Hassan found that the commission instead issued further letters directing Zenith Bank to maintain a post-no-debit restriction on Homadil Realty’s account without obtaining the required order from a court of competent jurisdiction.
The judge described the continued restriction as a blatant violation of the company’s constitutional right to property and stressed that investigative and law-enforcement agencies must exercise their statutory powers within the limits prescribed by law.
The court emphasised that Nigeria operates under democratic principles and the rule of law, under which no institution is permitted to exercise powers arbitrarily or outside established legal procedures.
It consequently ordered the EFCC to pay Homadil Realty Limited ₦2 million as compensation for what it described as a gross abuse of power.
Zenith Bank was separately ordered to pay the company another ₦2 million for continuing to enforce the restriction on the strength of the EFCC’s unlawful directives.
The total compensation awarded to Homadil Realty amounted to ₦4 million.
The dispute arose from an EFCC investigation which the commission told the court followed a petition submitted on behalf of Colleen Mero Yesufu concerning Plot 4022 in Guzape and Plots 1861 and 1862 in Katampe, Abuja.
Godwin-Isaac subsequently submitted a cross-petition questioning the roles allegedly played by Yesufu, Richard John Idakwogi of Rychado Homes Limited and Samuel I. Chime in the underlying property dispute.
The judgment, however, principally addressed the legality of the continued restriction placed on Homadil Realty’s bank account and did not amount to a final determination of the competing allegations arising from the property transactions.
The claimants had complained that the restriction remained in force through successive directives issued by the EFCC, despite the absence of a subsisting court order authorising its continuation.
The court’s decision also underscored the responsibility of financial institutions to ensure that restrictions placed on customers’ accounts are supported by lawful authority rather than being maintained indefinitely on administrative instructions alone.
The court’s decision also underscored the responsibility of financial institutions to ensure that restrictions placed on customers’ accounts are supported by lawful authority rather than being maintained indefinitely on administrative instructions alone.
The ruling therefore represents a judicial affirmation that neither an investigative agency nor a commercial bank may continue restricting access to an account outside the procedure permitted by law.