ABUJA, Nigeria — A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the temporary freezing of four Jaiz Bank accounts linked to Mele Kyari, the immediate past Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), over alleged fraud.
The order was granted by Justice Emeka Nwite after counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) moved an ex-parte motion on Monday, August 11, 2025.
The EFCC argued that the accounts were subjects of ongoing investigations into alleged conspiracy, abuse of office, and money laundering.
The EFCC said preliminary findings showed that the accounts had been used to warehouse suspicious inflows, including funds disguised as payments for a purported book launch and activities of a non-governmental organisation.
The frozen accounts include:
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Jaiz Bank Account No. 0017922724, Mele Kyari
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Jaiz Bank Account No. 0017922724, Mele Kyari (duplicate listing in the motion)
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Jaiz Bank Account No. 0018575055, Guwori Community Development Foundation
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Jaiz Bank Account No. 0018575141, Guwori Community Development Foundation Flood Relief
According to an affidavit deposed to by Amin Abdullahi, an EFCC investigator, a total of ₦661,464,601.50 suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities was traced to the four accounts.
He explained that the funds were linked to suspicious transactions between NNPC and oil companies.
The EFCC maintained that preserving the funds was necessary to prevent their dissipation pending the conclusion of investigations and possible prosecution.
Justice Nwite, in his ruling, said: “I have listened to counsel to 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 court adjourned the matter to Tuesday, September 23, 2025, for a report on the progress of investigations.
The petition that triggered the probe was filed on Thursday, April 24, 2025, by the group Guardian of Democracy and Rule of Law. Following this, EFCC investigators obtained bank records which they claimed showed that Kyari operated and controlled the accounts, allegedly using family members as fronts.
The commission also said the transactions were disguised to mask illicit origins, stressing that urgent preservation was needed since its initial 72-hour “no debit” instruction on the accounts had lapsed.
