The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned four suspects before the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos, over an alleged oil fraud involving about ₦2 billion.
The defendants, Babatunde Olukunle Oyefolu, Babayemi Isaac Olatunde, Ezekiel Abaki and Plural Oil Marketing Limited, were arraigned on Friday by the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, Ikoyi, before Justice Rahman Oshodi.
They are facing a four-count charge bordering on alleged conspiracy, theft and possession of stolen property involving 894,111 litres of base oil valued at ₦2,000,000,000.
According to the anti-graft agency, the defendants allegedly conspired in 2021 to unlawfully convert the base oil, in which Providus Bank holds a special interest.
One of the counts stated that the defendants “sometime in 2021 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, conspired among yourselves to unlawfully convert 894,111 litres of base oil, property in which Providus Bank holds a special interest.”
Another charge alleged that Plural Oil Marketing Limited, Oyefolu and Olatunde dishonestly retained ₦2 billion in the company’s account with Keystone Bank, funds which the EFCC said were fraudulently converted.
The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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Following the plea, prosecution counsel, Z. B. Atiku, urged the court to fix a trial date and remand the defendants in a correctional facility pending trial.
But defence counsel, Suleiman Usman (SAN), informed the court that bail applications had already been filed on behalf of the defendants and served on the prosecution. He urged the court to grant them bail on liberal terms, assuring that they would be present in court for the trial.
After hearing both sides, Justice Oshodi granted the defendants bail in the sum of ₦20 million each with one surety in like sum.
The court ruled that the surety must provide evidence of means of livelihood.
Justice Oshodi further ordered the second defendant to deposit his international passport with the court, while the third defendant must submit a valid passport and sign an undertaking not to travel outside Nigeria during the trial.
The judge also directed that the Nigeria Immigration Service be notified.
The court granted the defendants interim bail pending the perfection of their bail conditions and ordered their counsel to produce them on the next adjourned date.
The case was adjourned until April 29, 2026, for the commencement of trial.
