The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the temporary freezing of four bank accounts linked to the former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari.
The order, issued on Tuesday by Justice Emeka Nwite, followed an ex-parte application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The anti-graft agency alleged that the accounts, domiciled in Jaiz Bank, were tied to suspicious transactions running into hundreds of millions of naira.
Although the EFCC sought a 60-day freeze, the judge granted a 30-day order, with the option of renewal. He ruled that the application was meritorious and necessary to protect ongoing investigations.
Court filings listed the affected accounts as belonging to Mele Kyari, Guwori Community Development, and Guwori Community Development Foundation Flood Relief.
According to the EFCC, preliminary findings linked about ₦661.4 million to the accounts, suspected to be proceeds of crime. The commission alleged that Kyari used proxies, including family members, to operate the accounts, which received inflows from NNPCL and oil firms.
It further claimed that some of the suspicious transactions were disguised as payments for a book launch and NGO activities.
The matter has been adjourned to September 23 for the EFCC to provide an update on its investigation.
The commission stressed that the freeze order was vital to preserve the funds pending possible prosecution.