Nigerian socialite Aisha Achimugu, once celebrated for her opulent week-long birthday bash on Grenada’s exclusive Calivigny Island at $132,000 per night, now finds herself at the center of a sprawling financial scandal. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has launched a high-stakes probe into the businesswoman, alleging her involvement in a $150 million fraud web linked to illicit petroleum deals and a collapsed Ponzi scheme.
The Allegations: Offshore Deals and Phantom Investments
According to EFCC court filings, Achimugu allegedly funneled $25.3 million of “unexplained origin” through bureau de change operators to acquire two offshore petroleum blocks (PPL 3007 and PPL 302-DO) in 2024, while bribing officials at the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). The regulator denies misconduct, though the blocks remain inactive.
A second thread of the investigation ties her to MBA Trading and Capital Investment, a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of N200 billion ($125 million). Prosecutors claim Achimugu’s companies, Felak Concept Group and Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas, received N4 billion from MBA Trading in 2020. The EFCC has traced 136 bank accounts across 10 lenders linked to her, alongside a March 2024 raid on her Abuja mansion that uncovered N30 million in cash, $50,000, and boxes of gold, silver, and diamonds valued at over N1 billion.
Lavish Lifestyle Meets Legal Firestorm
Achimugu’s flamboyant persona first drew public ire in January 2024 when she hosted a celebrity-studded birthday extravaganza, flaunting Hermès bags worth $80,000 and orchestrating private jet transfers for guests. Three weeks later, the EFCC summoned her. After a single interrogation, she departed Nigeria, ignoring a February 2025 follow-up. By March, the agency declared her wanted, though extraditing her from abroad—where she’s believed to be—poses challenges for Nigeria’s oft-criticized judicial system.
Defiance and Defense
Widowed in 2020 after her husband, Suleiman, became Nigeria’s first COVID-19 fatality, Achimugu denies all charges. Her legal team dismisses the EFCC’s claims as a “fishing expedition,” insisting her wealth stems from “legitimate commerce.” In April 2025, she filed a lawsuit to halt her arrest and reclaim seized assets, with a hearing slated for May.
A Test for Nigeria’s Anti-Graft Crusade
The case underscores the uphill battle faced by EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede, who seeks to rejuvenate the agency’s reputation amid Nigeria’s endemic corruption. For thousands defrauded by MBA Trading and a public weary of elite impunity, the probe represents a pivotal moment—will it culminate in accountability or dissolve into judicial gridlock?
As Achimugu vows to “clear her name,” the world watches: a tale of glittering excess now shadowed by the grim specter of justice.
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