A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the temporary freezing of a Fidelity Bank account belonging to Mars Aviation Limited over allegations of money laundering and suspicious transactions linked to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
Justice Musa Liman granted the order following an ex parte motion filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The motion, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1299/2025, was filed on July 1 and argued by EFCC counsel, Geraldine Ofulue.
In her submission, Ofulue told the court that the account was under investigation for alleged criminal misappropriation and money laundering. She prayed the court to halt all transactions until the probe was concluded.
Ruling on the application on September 22, Justice Liman held that the EFCC’s request had merit. He therefore empowered the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, or any authorised officer, to direct Fidelity Bank’s managing director to freeze the account.
According to the motion, the account number 5250350283 (C03651082) is operated by Mars Aviation Limited.
In an affidavit supporting the motion, EFCC investigator Abdulganiyu Olayide said his team was tasked to probe suspicious transactions following intelligence that NNPCL had made several payments to Mars Aviation for “purported contracts” awarded in violation of the Procurement Act.
He explained that preliminary findings showed that huge sums were transferred into the company’s Fidelity Bank account in multiple instalments.
“Freezing the account is necessary to preserve the funds and prevent any transactions while the investigation continues,” Olayide told the court.
Mars Aviation Limited is reportedly owned by Abdullahi Bashir Haske, the founder and group managing director of AA&R. He is married to one of the daughters of former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar.
In August, the EFCC declared Haske wanted over allegations of criminal conspiracy and money laundering.
© 2025 Naijaonpoint, a division of NOP Media Inc. Contact us via [email protected]