The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the temporary freezing of four Jaiz bank accounts linked to the immediate-past Group Managing Director (GMD) of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mr Mele Kyari, over allegations of fraud.
Justice Emeka Nwite made the order on Tuesday after counsel for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ogechi Ujam, moved an ex parte motion asking the court to freeze the accounts in the interim pending the conclusion of investigations by the Commission.
The Judge, in his ruling, held that the application was meritorious and accordingly granted same.
“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 held.
Justice Nwite then adjourned till Sept 23 for a report on the matter.
On August 11, 2025, the EFCC filed the motion ex parte before the court to seek an order freezing the bank accounts because the accounts are owned by 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.”
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 said.
He said the preliminary investigations found that two of the bank accounts carry the name of Mele Kyari, while the other two have the name of a non-governmental organisation, Guwori Community Development Foundation Flood Relief.
The accounts were listed as: “Jaiz Bank account number: 0017922724 with account name: Mele Kyari; Jaiz Bank account number: 0017922724 with account name: Mele Kyari; Jaiz Bank account number: 0018575055 and Jaiz Bank number: 0018575141 with both account names as Guwori Community Development Foundation Flood Relief.”
