The Court of Appeal has upheld the conviction and sentencing of Maj.-Gen. Umar Mohammed, former Group Managing Director of Nigerian Army Properties Limited (NAPL), for stealing and misappropriating company funds.
The appellate court affirmed the verdict of a Special Court Martial, which had earlier found him guilty of multiple fraud-related offences.
A three-member panel of the Court of Appeal ruled that the evidence presented during the court martial sufficiently established Mohammed’s culpability.
The court also confirmed that the military tribunal had the jurisdiction to try the case and properly evaluated the facts before reaching its verdict.
Delivering the judgment, Justices Abba Mohammed, Okon Abang, and Eberechi Nyesom-Wike dismissed the appeal, describing the former general’s defence as inconsistent, unreliable, and contradicted by documentary evidence.
The court specifically highlighted discrepancies in Mohammed’s testimony, including his claim that NAPL never operated berthing services, an assertion directly contradicted by records he had authored while in office.
As a result, the appellate court affirmed his conviction on counts of stealing and criminal misappropriation while setting aside the counts relating to forgery.
The offences occurred during his tenure as head of NAPL, where he was found to have diverted company funds.
Following the court martial’s ruling, he was dismissed from the Nigerian Army, sentenced to prison, and ordered to refund $2,099,700 and ₦1.65 billion to the company.
In a related development, Justice Dehinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court, Lagos, ordered the permanent forfeiture of shares valued at over ₦5 billion linked to Mohammed and businessman Kayode Filani.
The order followed an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which demonstrated that the 245,568,137 shares were acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities carried out during Mohammed’s tenure at NAPL.
The counsel to the anti graft agency Hanatu Kofanaisa, informed the court that a Special Court Martial had previously convicted Maj.-Gen. Mohammed on 14 of the 18 counts of stealing and related offences, confirming the commission had met all legal requirements for final forfeiture, including mandatory newspaper publication of notice without any objections.
Justice Dipeolu ruled that the EFCC had satisfactorily proved its case and ordered that the shares be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government in favour of Nigerian Army Properties Limited.
The forfeiture application was brought under Section 44(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution and Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, giving the court the authority to seize assets acquired through proceeds of unlawful activities.
With both the appellate court affirmation and the Federal High Court’s forfeiture order, Mohammed’s conviction, prison sentence, dismissal from service, and the seizure of his illicitly acquired assets have all been legally upheld, marking a significant enforcement of accountability within the military and public sector.
The rulings also serve as a strong warning to public officials and military officers that misappropriation of government or military-owned funds will attract stringent legal consequences, including criminal prosecution, dismissal from service, and permanent forfeiture of unlawfully acquired assets.
