The Federal High Court in Abuja has granted an interim order to freeze four Jaiz Bank accounts linked to Mele Kyari, the immediate past Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). The accounts are under investigation for alleged fraud.
Justice Emeka Nwite issued the directive on Tuesday after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), through its counsel Ogechi Ujam, applied via an ex parte motion to block the accounts pending the conclusion of inquiries.
In his ruling, Justice Nwite said the request had merit. “I have listened to the counsel for the applicant and gone through the affidavit evidence with the exhibits and written address attached. I found that this application is meritorious and it is hereby granted as prayed,” the judge stated. The matter was adjourned until September 23 for a progress report.
The EFCC had filed the application on August 11, 2025, explaining that the accounts belong to Kyari, “who is currently being investigated in a case involving the offences of conspiracy, abuse of office and money laundering pending the conclusion of the investigation.”
According to an affidavit deposed by EFCC investigator Amin Abdullahi, the commission acted on a petition lodged by a civil society group, the Guardian of Democracy and Rule of Law, on April 24. Abdullahi, a member of the team handling the case, confirmed that investigators obtained bank records during the probe.
“Upon receipt of the petition referred to in Paragraph 4 above, my team carried out several investigation activities which included seeking and obtaining bank records from commercial Banks,” he explained.
Preliminary checks allegedly revealed that two of the accounts were opened in Kyari’s name, while the remaining two belonged to an NGO known as Guwori Community Development Foundation Flood Relief. The accounts include Jaiz Bank numbers 0017922724, 0017922724, 0018575055, and 0018575141.
The EFCC told the court that the accounts were being used to divert and conceal suspicious inflows from NNPC and oil companies. Abdullahi alleged:
“That bank records further revealed that these accounts are controlled and managed by Mr Kyari through his family members who are acting as fronts.”
He added that about ₦661,464,601.50 suspected to be proceeds of crime had been traced to the accounts. “Further investigation revealed that the said transactions in the various accounts were disguised as payments for a purported book launch and activities of a non-governmental organisation (NGO),” the affidavit read.
The EFCC noted that it had already placed a temporary “no debit” restriction on the accounts for 72 hours while awaiting hard copies of the account statements from Jaiz Bank.
The investigator stressed that freezing the accounts was crucial to safeguarding the funds.
“That there is a need to preserve the funds in the identified bank accounts pending the conclusion of the investigation and possible prosecution… That it is in the interest of justice to grant this application,” Abdullahi concluded.
