The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the temporary forfeiture of the sums of $43,449,947, £27,800 and N23,218,000 recovered from a Lagos home by the Economic and Financial rimes Commission, EFCC, to the federal government.

The monies were recovered by the EFCC from a residential apartment in the Ikoyi area of Lagos on Wednesday evening.

Delivering the judgment on the application filed by the EFCC on Thursday, Justice Muslim Hassan ordered that the funds be temporarily forfeited to the federal government, adding that interested parties have until May 5, to make their arguments as to why the huge amount of money should not be permanently forfeited.

Many Nigerians were left in disbelief when the EFCC released a statement late on Wednesday announcing the recovery of the monies.

The anti-corruption agency attributed the breakthrough to information supplied by a whistle blower who said that a woman has been frequenting the building carrying big ‘Ghana-must-go’ sacks.

Reports by some online media houses later alleged that the money belonged to former managing director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue.

But she released a statement on Thursday through her lawyer, Emeka Etiaba, SAN, saying that neither the money nor the building belonged to her.

The EFCC says investigation into the case is still ongoing.