A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja has discharged former Aviation Minister Stella Oduah and her former aide, Gloria Odita, in the long-running N2.5 billion fraud case, after the federal government amended the charges and proceeded instead against two corporate entities linked to the matter. Justice Hamza Muazu struck out the earlier charge against the two women on Thursday after the prosecution formally dropped their names from the suit.
The case was subsequently redirected at Sobora International Limited and Global Offshore and Marine Limited under an amended two-count charge. According to court reports, Sobora International was accused of unlawfully possessing N838 million, while Global Offshore and Marine Limited was charged with unlawfully possessing N1.629 billion said to have been fraudulently obtained from the Federal Ministry of Aviation.
The shift followed plea bargain negotiations between the prosecution and the defence, a development that significantly altered the direction of the case. When proceedings resumed, Oduah appeared in court as the representative of the two companies and entered guilty pleas on their behalf to the amended charges. Following the plea, prosecution counsel sought the conviction of the firms, an order winding them up, and the forfeiture of funds already recovered or paid as restitution to the federal government.
The court granted those requests. Justice Muazu convicted the two companies based on their guilty plea, ordered that they be wound up, and directed that N1.2 billion paid as restitution, along with N780 million earlier recovered during the investigation, be forfeited to the federal government. The judge then struck out the original charge dated October 13, 2025, which had listed Oduah and Odita as defendants, and formally discharged them.
Oduah and Odita had originally been arraigned in December 2025 on multiple counts including fraud, obtaining by false pretence and criminal breach of trust. Prosecutors had alleged that the defendants conspired in 2014 to obtain about N2.4 billion from the Federal Ministry of Aviation through fraudulent claims. Both had initially pleaded not guilty before the plea bargain changed the course of the trial.
The ruling brings a dramatic close to the criminal proceedings against the former minister personally, while shifting legal responsibility to the convicted companies. It also means the federal government has secured both restitution and forfeiture without continuing its prosecution of Oduah and her former aide.
