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Ex- NNPCL GMD Kyari leaves EFCC Hq after grills over financial infractions
A former group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, has left the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) after he was interrogated over financial matters during his time in office.
Kyari was seen walking into the headquarters of the anti-graft agency in Abuja at about 2:15 pm on Wednesday.
As he was walked in, the former GMD said, “I have done my part; the EFCC must do theirs. When each of us does our duty—without fear or favour, with honour, respect, and commitment—Nigeria moves forward.”
The EFCC had approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking a 60-day freeze order to complete the investigation.
But Justice Emeke Nwite limited the freeze period to 30 days with the option of a renewal if necessary.
The court in August ordered the temporary freezing of four Jaiz bank accounts linked to Kyari over allegations of fraud.
Justice Nwite made the order after counsel for the EFCC, Ogechi Ujam, moved an ex parte motion asking the court to freeze the accounts in the interim pending the conclusion of investigations by the commission.
The judge, in his ruling, held that the application was meritorious and accordingly granted same.
“I have listened to the counsel for the applicant and gone through the affidavit evidence with the exhibits and written address attached. I found that this application is meritorious and it is hereby granted as prayed,” the judge held.
Justice Nwite then adjourned till Sept 23 for a report on the matter.
On August 11, 2025, the EFCC filed the motion ex parte before the court to seek an order freezing the bank accounts because the accounts are owned by Kyari, “who is currently being investigated in a case involving the offences of conspiracy, abuse of office and money laundering pending the conclusion of the investigation.”
In the affidavit attached to the ex parte, Amin Abdullahi, an EFCC investigator attached to the Special Investigation Unit, said the commission received and investigated a petition dated April 24 and filed by a group, the Guardian of Democracy and Rule of Law, against Kyari.
He said he was a member of the team assigned to investigate the petition.
“Upon receipt of the petition referred to in Paragraph 4 above, my team carried out several investigation activities which included seeking and obtaining bank records from commercial Banks,” he said.
EFCC Probe
He said the preliminary investigations found that two of the bank accounts carry the name of Mele Kyari, while the other two have the name of a non-governmental organisation, Guwori Community Development Foundation Flood Relief.
The accounts were listed as: “Jaiz Bank account number: 0017922724 with account name: Mele Kyari; Jaiz Bank account number: 0017922724 with account name: Mele Kyari; Jaiz Bank account number: 0018575055 and Jaiz Bank number: 0018575141 with both account names as Guwori Community Development Foundation Flood Relief”.
The anti-graft agency argued that the bank accounts in respect of which the reliefs are sought are subject matters of investigation by the Commission about misappropriation of funds and criminal breach of trust.
It also said that the preliminary investigation conducted thus far revealed that the bank accounts are linked to Mr Kyari, who has been using them to receive suspicious inflows from NNPC and various oil companies that have dealings with NNPC.
“That bank records further revealed that these accounts are controlled and managed by Mr Kyari through his family members who are acting as fronts,” he said.
Abdullahi also said the investigation so far carried out revealed “that N661,464,601.50, which are suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities, were warehoused in four different accounts”.
The Trump administration must immediately reinstate White House access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico, a US federal judge ordered Thursday, after their reporters were banned from the premises.
Trump has long attacked media outlets that have aired critical coverage of his campaigns and administrations, repeatedly blasting the press as the “enemy of the people.”
The three outlets were barred from the White House by the billionaire former reality TV star on Friday as punishment for distributing what he branded “fake news” and “fiction and lies.”
CNN, MS NOW and Politico filed a joint lawsuit asking for a temporary restraining order against the ban on the grounds that it violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which upholds the right to a free press.
Judge Timothy Kelly found that the revocation of press passes “likely violated their constitutional due process rights,” according to the eight-page ruling issued Thursday.
“The ‘general rule’ is that ‘individuals must receive notice and an opportunity to be heard before the Government deprives them’ of a constitutionally protected interest,” Kelly wrote.
A reporter looks at his phone in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on September 19, 2026.
The judge said that press credentials held by employees of the three outlets will be reinstated “until further Order of the Court or the expiration of this Temporary Restraining Order”, which is to remain in effect for 14 days.
Kelly added that the order cannot be immediately appealed.
Ahead of the ruling, the Department of Justice had argued Trump can “control reporters’ access to restricted presidential areas, such as the Oval Office.”
“Access to the White House is a privilege — not a right,” it said.
‘National security’
The White House Press Office accused CNN in a letter to the cable news outlet of “trafficking in verifiable falsehoods about national security and other issues, and publishing sensitive or classified information,” with similar accusations leveled against MS NOW and Politico.
The letter to CNN cited several stories about the US-Iran war and a story on Trump’s plans to build a military bunker below the planned East Wing ballroom which allegedly “disclosed ‘top-secret’ construction details.”
Theodore Boutrous, representing the media outlets in court on Wednesday, told the judge that in Trump’s Truth Social post announcing the bans, the president “didn’t say anything about national security.”
Boutrous argued that being punished for reporting on national security issues “that the government would rather have not be reported on is just contrary to First Amendment principles.”
Kelly said the stories identified in letters to the outlets were “routine”.
“The Court is skeptical — at least on this record — that Defendants’ interest in safeguarding national security is the actual motivation for, or is even advanced by, the revocation of Plaintiffs’ hard passes,” Kelly said, referring to the White House press credentials.
Journalists for the three news organizations were denied access to the White House grounds on Saturday and had their passes confiscated, in the latest flare-up of the 80-year-old Republican president’s assault on mainstream US media.
‘Shouldn’t be here’
In a previous case involving CNN during Trump’s first term, Kelly, a Trump appointee, ordered the White House to temporarily restore access for a CNN reporter whose pass had been revoked.
In a rare move, the top five US broadcasters said Monday that they were halting pool coverage of the White House — where a broadcaster films on behalf of all television outlets for the day — in solidarity with CNN.
“The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting,” ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox and NBC said.
The White House Correspondents’ Association and nearly 50 news organizations also filed a brief with the court calling for the bans on CNN, MS NOW and Politico to be reversed.
Trump appeared to suggest on Tuesday that CNN should not be covering him outside of the White House either.
“I’m surprised that CNN is here covering me. You shouldn’t be here,” Trump told a reporter at the UN General Assembly in New York.
The White House launched a streaming channel, Trump TV, on Monday which it said would show “top videos, major remarks, and must-see highlights streaming 24/7 and updated in real time.”
The ban came at a time when Trump’s approval ratings are at record lows, his Republican Party risks losing control of Congress in November’s midterm elections, and the Middle East conflict drags on with no end in sight.
AFP
A United States-based political advisory and lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, has warned that Washington cannot afford to allow any attempt to manipulate Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.
The firm made the statement in a post on its verified X account on Thursday, September 24, while raising fresh allegations about the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Von Batten-Montague-York alleged that there was growing concern across Nigeria’s political divide over what it described as corruption within the federal government.
The firm also alleged that Tinubu appointed an individual as the minister responsible for the nation’s budget despite claims it attributed to the United States Department of Justice concerning the person’s alleged involvement in the embezzlement of billions of dollars from Nigeria’s treasury during a previous administration.
However, the firm did not provide further details or evidence in its latest post to substantiate the allegation.
On the 2027 election, the firm said the United States had a significant interest in ensuring that Nigeria conducts a credible and peaceful electoral process.
“The US cannot afford to allow President Tinubu to rig the upcoming Nigerian election,” the firm stated.
It further alleged that what it described as “lawlessness” in Nigeria could place the country on a trajectory similar to developments witnessed in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.
“Free and fair elections in Nigeria are essential to protecting US interests in Nigeria and the broader region,” it added.
Background
The latest statement is part of a series of interventions by Von Batten-Montague-York on Nigeria’s political affairs ahead of the 2027 elections.
Earlier this month, the firm alleged that the Tinubu administration was seeking to influence the 2027 presidential election through state institutions, including the Independent National Electoral Commission, the judiciary and law-enforcement agencies. The firm did not provide independently verified evidence for those claims in the statement cited at the time.
The firm’s political activities in Nigeria have also attracted attention because it was hired by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar under a lobbying agreement filed with the US Department of Justice. TheCable reported in September that the contract was valued at $1.2 million for 12 months and was intended, among other objectives, to strengthen Atiku’s standing in Washington and counter narratives associated with the Nigerian government.
That background is relevant to the latest statement because it shows that the firm’s comments on Nigeria’s political environment come from an organisation that has been engaged in advocacy on behalf of a major political figure preparing for the 2027 contest.
The firm’s statement should therefore be distinguished from an official position of the US government. There is no indication in the cited report that Washington has announced a policy to intervene in Nigeria’s 2027 election or accused Tinubu of planning to rig the poll. The claims about election manipulation and corruption remain allegations made by Von Batten-Montague-York.
With Nigeria’s 2027 general elections approaching, electoral integrity, the independence of state institutions and the role of international partners are expected to remain major issues in the country’s political debate.
The Apo- Karshi road project was awarded in 2011, and abandoned for over a decade.
The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, was there a few minutes ago to see things for himself.
Judge Directs Trump To Restore White House Access For CNN, MS NOW, Politico
US Lobbying Firm Warns Against Alleged Attempt to Rig Nigeria’s 2027 Election
OF TEEJAY YUSUF, KOGI WEST SENATORIAL DISTRICT, AND RESPONSIVE SERVANTHOOD
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