The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Babatunde Olukunle Oyefolu, Babayemi Isaac Olatunde, Ezekiel Abaki, and Plural Oil Marketing Limited over an alleged N2 billion oil fraud in Lagos State, ENigeria Newspaper gathered.
The defendants appeared before Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos, in proceedings facilitated by the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, Ikoyi, through its legal team.
According to the charges, the accused are alleged to have conspired, stolen, and retained stolen property involving 894,111 litres of base oil valued at N2,000,000,000.
One of the counts stated: “That you, Plural Oil Marketing Limited, Babatunde Olukunle Oyefolu, Babayemi Isaac Olatunde, and Ezekiel Abaki, 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 count charged that the defendants “dishonestly retained in Plural Oil Marketing Limited’s Keystone Bank account the sum of N2,000,000,000.00 (Two Billion Naira), being funds fraudulently converted.”
Upon arraignment, all the accused pleaded not guilty, setting the stage for trial.
The prosecution, led by Z. B. Atiku, requested that the court remand the defendants in custody and set a trial date.
Meanwhile, the defence counsel, Dr Suleiman Usman, SAN, submitted bail applications on behalf of the accused, which had been duly served on the prosecution. He urged the court to grant liberal bail terms, assuring that the defendants would attend all subsequent proceedings.
Justice Oshodi granted bail of N20 million each, with one surety in like sum, and stipulated that the surety provide evidence of livelihood. Additional conditions included the second defendant depositing his international passport, while the third defendant must submit a valid passport and sign an undertaking not to travel outside Nigeria during the trial. The judge also instructed the prosecution to notify the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).
The defendants were granted interim bail pending the perfection of the conditions and are required to appear at the next hearing.
However, the trial has now been scheduled to commence on April 29, 2026.
In a similar case last year, the court sentenced two oil marketers, Mamman Nasir Ali and Christian Taylor, to 14 years’ imprisonment each for an N2.2 billion oil subsidy fraud, following re-arraignment by the EFCC alongside Nasaman Oil Services Limited on a 57-count amended charge.
