Financial Authorities Impose Bank Asset Freeze on Mele Kyari Due to Allegations of Fraudulent Activities
In a significant development, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured a Federal High Court order in Abuja to temporarily freeze four bank accounts linked to Mele Kyari, the immediate past Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). The accounts, which are domiciled at Jaiz Bank, include one in Kyari's name and others registered under the Guwori Community Development Foundation and its Flood Relief arm, with a total of approximately N661 million frozen pending investigation.
The EFCC alleges that the accounts received suspicious inflows from NNPCL and various oil companies connected to NNPCL, and that transactions were disguised as payments for a purported book launch and NGO activities. Bank records reveal that the accounts are controlled and managed by Kyari through his family members acting as fronts.
The court order was granted ex parte by Justice Emeka Nwite, who ruled that freezing the funds was necessary to facilitate the ongoing probe. The EFCC filed the ex parte motion to freeze the accounts on August 11, 2025, and the court's order was made on the same day. The Commission has written to post a 'no debit' instruction on the accounts, which will last for 72 hours.
The EFCC's investigation was initiated based on a petition dated April 24 from a group called Guardian of Democracy and Rule of Law. The matter was adjourned till September 23 for a report on the investigation. The Commission maintains that the interim freeze is crucial to preserve suspected proceeds while its probe continues.
It is important to note that the court's order does not amount to a conviction; it is an interim preservative measure pending the EFCC's findings and any possible prosecution that may arise thereafter. Kyari was removed from his position by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in April 2025, and since then, fraud allegations under his tenure have surfaced, which he has denied. There are also reports that EFCC has placed Kyari on its wanted list, and there are broader allegations involving a purported $7.2 billion fraud connected to his time at NNPCL, though details on that matter are less detailed in the court documents.
The fate of the funds depends on the outcome of the probe and any subsequent legal steps the Commission may take. The EFCC has written to Jaiz Bank for the hard copies of the comprehensive account details of Kyari's accounts, and the judge adjourned the matter till September 23 for a report on the investigation.
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