A Federal High Court 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 allegations of fraud and money laundering.
Ruling on an ex-parte motion filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Justice Emeka Nwite held that the application had merit and should be granted.
“I have listened to counsel to the applicant and gone through the affidavit evidence with the exhibits and written address attached. I find that this application is meritorious, and it is hereby granted as prayed,” he said.
He adjourned the case until September 23 for report.
The anti-graft agency urged the court to freeze the accounts, arguing that they were currently under investigation in connection with offences bordering on conspiracy, abuse of office, and money laundering.
According to the EFCC, the accounts include Jaiz Bank number 0017922724 belonging to Mele Kyari; account number 0017922725 also bearing his name; account number 0018575055 with the name Guwori Community Development Fund; and account number 0018575141 operated as Guwori Community Development Foundation Flood Relief.
The commission argued that the accounts were linked to the misappropriation of funds and criminal breach of trust, stressing that preliminary investigations showed suspicious inflows from the NNPCL and oil companies dealing with the corporation.
“There is a need to preserve the funds in the identified bank accounts pending the conclusion of investigations and possible prosecution,” it said.
In a supporting affidavit, Amin Abdullahi, an EFCC investigator attached to the Special Investigation Unit, said the agency received a petition dated April 24 from a group known as Guardians of Democracy and Rule of Law against Kyari.
He said that so far, the investigation had traced N661,464,601.50, suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities, to the four Jaiz Bank accounts allegedly controlled by Kyari through family members serving as fronts.
Bank records obtained by investigators reportedly revealed that the accounts were used to receive suspicious inflows disguised as payments for a book launch and the activities of a non-governmental organisation (NGO).
The EFCC said it had written to Jaiz Bank for hard copies of the comprehensive account details, adding that a prior “no-debit” instruction placed on the accounts could only last 72 hours.
“An order of this honourable court is necessary to freeze the said accounts clearly described in Schedule 1 to the motion paper while the investigation is ongoing,” the deponent said, insisting that it was in the interest of justice to grant the application.
In his reaction to earlier reports linking him to wrongdoing, Kyari had in May dismissed the allegations as “clear mischief” aimed at tarnishing his image, stating that he was on a “well-deserved rest” after over three decades at the state oil firm.
“I must emphasise that I served with the fear of God, knowing fully well that if I do not account before man, I will account before Allah,” he wrote on his X handle.
Kyari’s case forms part of a broader EFCC probe into the handling of refinery rehabilitation funds, where over N80 billion was said to have been traced to the personal accounts of a former refinery chief.