RismadarVoice Reporters
March 7, 2026
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday arraigned four defendants before a Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos, over an alleged N2 billion oil fraud.
The defendants: Plural Oil Marketing Limited, Babatunde Olukunle Oyefolu, Babayemi Isaac Olatunde, and Ezekiel Abaki were docked before Justice Rahman Oshodi on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, theft and possession of stolen property.
The EFCC alleged that the defendants conspired in 2021 to unlawfully convert 894,111 litres of base oil valued at about N2 billion, in which Providus Bank has a special interest.
The anti-graft agency also accused some of the defendants of dishonestly retaining the proceeds of the alleged fraud in Plural Oil Marketing Limited’s Keystone Bank account.
All the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Following their pleas, prosecution counsel, Z. B. Atiku, asked the court to fix a trial date and remand the defendants in a correctional facility pending trial.
However, defence counsel, Dr. Suleiman Usman, SAN, informed the court that bail applications had been filed for the defendants and urged the court to grant them bail on liberal terms, assuring that they would appear for trial.
Ruling on the applications, Justice Oshodi granted each defendant bail in the sum of N20 million with one surety in like sum, who must provide evidence of means of livelihood.
The court also ordered the second defendant to deposit his international passport, while the third defendant was directed to submit a valid passport and sign an undertaking not to travel outside Nigeria during the trial.
The judge further directed the EFCC to notify the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).
The defendants were granted interim bail pending the perfection of their bail conditions, while their counsel was ordered to produce them in court on the next adjourned date.
The case was adjourned to April 29, 2026, for the commencement of trial.
