A Nigerian High Court in Gwarinpa has struck out criminal charges brought against renowned Ghanaian businessman Sam Jonah and four other directors of JonahCapital Ltd over a property dispute involving the River Park Estate.

Justice Modupe-Osho Adebiyi on Tuesday dismissed the case after Nigeria's Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice announced the discontinuance of all charges against the investors.

Sam Jonah is one of Ghana's most prominent businessmen and a former Chief Executive Officer of AngloGold Ashanti, who has extensive business interests across Africa.

The dispute follows a formal petition by Ghanaian statesman Sir Sam Jonah to Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.

In the petition dated December 13, 2025, Sir Jonah asked the government to intervene diplomatically after what he described as the unlawful seizure of his investments in Abuja’s River Park Estate by the CAC.

The decision was communicated in a series of official correspondence from the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), signed by the Director of Public Prosecutions, M.B. Abubakar, following a comprehensive review of police case files and investigations.

The AGF determined that allegations of forgery, fraud and related offences against Mr Samuel Esson Jonah, Mr Kojo Ansah Mensah, Mr Victor Quainoo and Mr Abu Arome could not be sustained.

After reviewing the Federal Government of Nigeria's application, the judge declared, "the case is hereby struck out."

The Nigerian Police Force had on June 25, 2024, filed a 26-count criminal charge before the FCT High Court in Gwarinpa against directors of JonahCapital Ltd, namely Sam Jonah, Kojo Ansah, Victor Quainoo, Mobus Property Nigeria Ltd, and their Nigerian lawyer, Abu Arome, alleging forgery of the ownership documents of the company.

At the resumed hearing, an assistant state counsel from the office of the Attorney General, Aishatu Kalthungo, informed the court that she had been instructed to withdraw the matter, relying on powers in Section 174 of the Nigerian Constitution, 1999.

"I have a directive based on a notice of withdrawal dated December 30, 2025 and filed on January 2, 2026, asking me to withdraw this matter," she stated.

The withdrawal followed an investigation report by Nigeria's Attorney General, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), dated December 30, 2025, which dismissed all allegations of forgery and fraudulent activities against the Ghanaian investors and their Nigerian lawyer.

The AGF's investigation had found that the allegations were the basis for the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)'s unlawful expropriation of the investors' shares from former shareholders of the company.

Consequently, the Attorney General directed the CAC to immediately rescind all administrative measures taken based on the report of the IGP Monitoring Unit of the Nigeria Police Force.

The commission was also advised "to refrain from taking any action that will undermine the authority and integrity of the courts."

The AGF criticised the police investigation report by the IGP Monitoring Unit led by Akin Fakorede, stating that it disregarded the burden and standard of proof necessary to establish criminal liability.

The Attorney General noted that the police report inappropriately attempted to characterise a commercial disagreement involving ownership, shareholdings and contractual obligations as a criminal matter.

The AGF's report also faulted the police for discarding "the valid, comprehensive, unbiased and affirmed report of the Special Investigation Panel on Petitions relating to the ownership structure of Houses of for Africa Nigeria Ltd, JonahCapital Nigeria Ltd and River Park Estate, Lugbe dated 28th March, 2025."

However, despite the criminal charges being dropped, the Registrar General of the CAC has reportedly failed to comply with the directive of the Attorney General to rescind the cancellation of the records of the investors' companies.