Manny Ita –
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 ₦2 billion oil fraud in Lagos.
The defendants were brought before Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, following an investigation conducted by the EFCC Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 based in Ikoyi.
According to the anti-graft agency, the defendants are facing charges bordering on conspiracy, theft and possession of stolen property related to 894,111 litres of base oil valued at ₦2,000,000,000.
One of the counts read before the court 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 alleged financial misconduct involving the handling of funds believed to have been derived from the sale of the oil product. It read: “That you, Plural Oil Marketing Limited, Babatunde Olukunle Oyefolu, and Babayemi Isaac Olatunde, sometime in 2021 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, dishonestly retained in Plural Oil Marketing Limited’s Keystone Bank account the sum of ₦2,000,000,000.00 (Two Billion Naira), being funds fraudulently converted.”
Upon their arraignment on Friday, the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against them.
Following the plea, prosecution counsel Z. B. Atiku asked the court to fix a date for trial and also urged that the defendants be remanded in a correctional facility pending the commencement of proceedings.
However, defence counsel Dr. 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 the defendants bail on liberal terms and undertook to ensure their presence at subsequent proceedings.”
After hearing arguments from both parties, Justice Oshodi granted bail to the defendants in the sum of ₦20 million each with one surety in like sum.
The court further directed that the surety must provide proof of a legitimate means of livelihood. The judge also ordered specific travel restrictions for some of the defendants.
“The second defendant is to deposit his international passport with the court, while the third defendant was ordered to submit a valid passport and sign an undertaking not to travel outside Nigeria during the pendency of the trial,” the court ruled.
Justice Oshodi also instructed the prosecution to notify the Nigerian Immigration Service about the restrictions.
The court granted the defendants interim bail pending the fulfillment of the bail conditions and directed their counsel to ensure their appearance at the next hearing.
The case was subsequently adjourned to April 29, 2026, for the commencement of trial.
The Special Offences Court in Ikeja handles fraud and financial crime cases and has previously delivered notable judgments. In 2025, Justice Mojisola Dada convicted two oil marketers, Mamman Nasir Ali and Christian Taylor, sentencing them to 14 years imprisonment each over a ₦2.2 billion oil subsidy fraud after they were re-arraigned by the EFCC alongside Nasaman Oil Services Limited on an amended 57-count charge.
