— Adeleke petitions CBN over LivingTrust oversight
Matilda Omonaiye/
The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos will tomorrow hear an appeal filed by CitiTrust Financial Services Limited, as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) intensifies its prosecution of the embattled firm over alleged fraud and illegal financial operations.
CitiTrust, the parent company of the Osun State-partly owned LivingTrust Mortgage Bank, is challenging its earlier conviction and asset forfeiture order handed down by the Federal High Court in Lagos.
The EFCC had successfully prosecuted the company for money laundering and operating an alleged Ponzi scheme, leading to the forfeiture of its assets to the Federal Government. Several executive directors of the firm were subsequently declared wanted by the anti-graft agency and are reportedly at large.
The appeal, marked CA/L/571/2025, is scheduled for hearing at the Tafawa Balewa Square division of the Court of Appeal on April 20, 2026. CitiTrust is listed as the appellant, while the Federal Government of Nigeria is the respondent.
According to the hearing notice issued on April 15, 2026, the court will consider a motion by the appellants seeking leave to regularise their appeal processes filed out of time.
Counsel to the appellants, Oyetola Muyiwa Atoyebi, SAN, in a motion dated September 23, 2025, attributed the delay to workload constraints and procedural issues, including the length of the appellants’ brief, which exceeded the prescribed page limit.
The appellants are seeking, among other reliefs:
• Leave to file and serve their Brief of Argument out of time
• Extension of time to regularise the filing
• An order deeming the already filed brief as properly filed
• Permission to rely on a 38-page brief, exceeding the court’s limit
Sources at the EFCC indicate that the commission will file its response immediately after the court rules on the motion.
Meanwhile, the anti-graft agency is proceeding with a parallel criminal trial at the Federal High Court in Lagos against the company and its directors. The charges are to be served by substituted means, including pasting them at the last known addresses of the defendants and their subsidiaries.
Investigators are also said to be working with Interpol to track down the fleeing directors.
The case has also reignited concerns over regulatory oversight of LivingTrust Mortgage Bank.
Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, had in a letter dated March 21, 2025, raised alarm over the Central Bank of Nigeria’s handling of the bank’s governance.
He also questioned the approval of CitiTrust-linked nominees to the bank’s board despite EFCC allegations, while nominees from Osun State were reportedly rejected.
In its earlier ruling, the Federal High Court, presided over by Justice Friday Ogazi, held that there was overwhelming evidence of unlawful financial activities linked to CitiTrust.
The court found that the company operated outside regulatory compliance, noting in part that one of the entities was not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Justice Ogazi ruled that the EFCC had established, on the balance of probabilities, that the assets in question were proceeds of unlawful activity.
He subsequently ordered the final forfeiture of CitiTrust’s shares in LivingTrust Mortgage Bank and directed that proceeds from the sale be used to compensate victims, with any balance remitted to the Federal Government.
The judge further emphasised that corporate structures cannot shield fraudulent conduct, stressing that the corporate veil must be lifted where financial crimes are established.
The outcome of Monday’s proceedings is expected to determine the pace and direction of both the appeal and the ongoing criminal prosecution.
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