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By Lizzy Chirkpi
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday arraigned Gidado Ibrahim before the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, over an alleged N603.4 million job fraud linked to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Ibrahim was charged alongside Halimat Adenike Tejusho, who is currently at large, before Justice H. Muazu on an amended six-count charge bordering on fraud, obtaining money by false pretence and forgery.
According to the EFCC, the defendants allegedly collected over N603 million from a victim, Oluseye Yomi-Sholoye, between August and October 2024, under the guise of securing her appointment as Group Managing Director of the NNPC.
Reading one of the charges in court, the prosecution stated that the defendants “knowingly made false representations and obtained huge sums of money with no lawful authority or capacity to deliver on the promised appointment.”
Another count alleged that Ibrahim used a forged document purportedly issued from the Office of the National Security Adviser at the Presidential Villa to convince the victim of the deal’s authenticity.
Prosecuting counsel, Y. Tarfa, urged the court to allow the defendant take his plea on the amended charges, noting that the offences violated provisions of the Advance Fee Fraud Act and the Penal Code.
Ibrahim pleaded not guilty to all six counts.
Following the plea, Tarfa requested a trial date and asked the court to remand the defendant in a correctional facility.
Defence counsel, B.B. Alhaji, informed the court that a bail application had been filed but was not yet ready for hearing. He appealed that Ibrahim be kept in EFCC custody on health grounds pending the bail hearing.
Justice Muazu, however, ordered that the defendant be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre and adjourned the case to February 17, 2026, for hearing of the bail application.
“The defendant will remain in custody pending the determination of his bail request,” the judge ruled.