The bank account of Mars Aviation Limited, an firm linked to the embattled billionaire, Abdullahi Bashir-Haske has been frozen over alleged fraud connected to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
The Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the temporary freezing of the company’s account with Fidelity Bank on Monday.
Justice Musa Liman, presiding over the matter, 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 moved by Geraldine Ofulue, counsel to the EFCC.
Ofulue told the court that the account was under investigation for alleged criminal misappropriation and money laundering, and urged the court to freeze it pending the conclusion of the probe.
Ruling on the motion, Justice Liman held that the EFCC’s application had merit and accordingly granted the request. Although the order was made on September 22, details only emerged recently.
The anti-graft agency had asked the court to empower its chairman, Ola Olukoyede, or any other authorised officer, to direct the managing director of Fidelity Bank to freeze the account.
According to the motion, the Fidelity Bank account number 5250350283 (C03651082) is held by Mars Aviation Limited.
In an affidavit in support of the motion, Abdulganiyu Olayide, an EFCC investigator attached to the commission’s Special Duties Committee, said his team was assigned to probe the matter.
Olayide explained that the investigation followed intelligence reports alleging that NNPCL made several payments to Mars Aviation for “purported contracts that were phoney and granted in default of the provisions of the Procurement Act.”
He said preliminary findings revealed that “huge sums of money were paid into the company’s Fidelity Bank account by NNPCL in multiple instalments.”
The investigator added that freezing the account was necessary “to preserve the funds and prevent any transactions while the investigation continues.”
“That I make this affidavit in good faith, believing its contents to be true and correct and in accordance with the Oaths Act,” Olayide said.
Reports suggest that Mars Aviation Limited is allegedly owned by Abdullahi Bashir-Haske, founder and Group Managing Director of AA&R Investment Group. Bashir-Haske is married to a daughter of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
In August 2025, Haske was placed on the EFCC’s wanted list over allegations of criminal conspiracy and money laundering.
Earlier, this newspaper reported that Bashir Bayo Ojulari, Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the NNPCL, has also been a subject of money laundering investigations following the alleged transfer of millions of dollars to the AA&R Investment Group’s account.