The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the temporary freezing of a bank account belonging to Mars Aviation Limited, over its alleged involvement in fraudulent transactions linked to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL.
Justice Musa Liman issued the order following an ex-parte motion filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and moved by its counsel, Geraldine Ofulue.
The motion sought to preserve funds in the account while investigations into allegations of criminal misappropriation and money laundering continue.
According to court documents, the affected account, numbered 5250350283 (C03651082), is domiciled with Fidelity Bank Plc and registered under the name Mars Aviation Limited.
The EFCC’s motion, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1299/2025, was dated and filed on July 1, 2025, though the certified true copy of the court’s order, made on September 22, only surfaced on Monday.
In her submission, Ofulue informed the court that the account was allegedly used to receive funds from NNPCL for non-existent contracts, violating provisions of the Public Procurement Act.
She argued that freezing the account was necessary to prevent the dissipation of funds and to enable investigators to trace the flow of money.
The EFCC investigator, Abdulganiyu Olayide, attached an affidavit in support of the application, detailing how intelligence reports revealed that large sums were transferred from NNPCL to Mars Aviation Ltd under questionable circumstances.
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“Our team was assigned to investigate allegations that funds were paid by NNPCL to Mars Aviation for purported contracts that were phony and in default of procurement laws,” Olayide stated. “We found that several instalments had been deposited into the company’s account, prompting the need for a freeze order to preserve the funds.”
Justice Liman, in granting the motion, agreed that the application was meritorious and that the EFCC’s request was in the interest of justice, pending the completion of its investigation.
The EFCC has in recent years intensified its scrutiny of transactions involving oil and aviation service firms linked to public contracts.
In 2024, the agency obtained similar orders to freeze accounts of companies allegedly connected to contract fraud within the Petroleum Equalisation Fund and Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
These measures are part of the anti-graft agency’s strategy to curb money laundering and contract racketeering in Nigeria’s petroleum sector — a problem that has persisted despite reforms following the NNPCL’s 2021 incorporation.
While the EFCC’s current investigation continues, the court’s freeze order ensures that no withdrawals or transactions can occur on the account until a final determination is made on the alleged fraudulent inflows.
NAN
