Court Forfeits Aircraft Linked to N114m Maiduguri Project Fraud

ABUJA — In a landmark victory for Nigeria’s anti-graft campaign, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured the final forfeiture of a Hawker 125 private jet valued at millions of dollars. The aircraft was systematically acquired using funds plundered from the Maiduguri Emergency Power Project (MEPP).

​Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, delivered the final forfeiture order on Monday, May 18, 2026. The ruling effectively transfers ownership of the premium aircraft—bearing model number 800XP, serial number 258553, and registration number 5N-AMK—permanently to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

​The judgement brought to light a sophisticated network of insider trading, bid-rigging, and international money laundering orchestrated by a trusted public official.

​Inside the NNPCL Project Scam

​The roots of the forfeiture trace back to 2021, when the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) launched the critical Maiduguri Emergency Power Project. The intervention was designed to restore electricity to Borno State’s capital after repeated insurgent attacks severed the city from the national grid. The contracts for the emergency project were valued at $114,148,155 and ₦23,172,969,904.

​According to EFCC investigator Aminu Abdullahi, the multi-billion-naira infrastructure drive was quickly compromised from within. Alhaji Abdulsalam Mustapha Kachallah, who then served as the Chairman of the Borno State Rural Electrification Board and was a key member of the project’s steering committee, allegedly weaponized his insider position.

​The anti-graft agency established that Kachallah entered into illicit, under-the-table agreements with China Machinery Engineering Company (CMEC). Using companies in which he held substantial personal interests, Kachallah sold privileged bidding and technical information to CMEC in exchange for massive financial inducements.

​Consequent to receiving this leaked data, CMEC successfully clinched three lucrative contracts under the emergency power project worth $52,120,172 and ₦20,213,956,953.

​The Brazilian Flight Path

​To obscure the trail of the illicit kickbacks, Kachallah allegedly utilized a complex financial laundry network. Under the pretext of a legitimate sub-contract, CMEC was instructed to transfer $2,070,000 into the Stanbic IBTC Bank account of Afuwa Integrated Services Limited, a Bureau De Change (BDC) operator.

​EFCC operatives uncovered that forged invoices were generated under Afuwa Integrated Services’ name to mimic legitimate services rendered to the Chinese engineering firm. In reality, the BDC operator was a pass-through entity. The $2.07 million was immediately routed into a Brazilian bank account to purchase the Hawker private jet from an aircraft vendor in South America.

​Once the procurement was finalized, Kachallah allegedly engineered a second layer of documentation to smoothly transfer the aircraft’s ownership from the BDC firm to Valiente Jet Limited, a shell company tied directly to him.

​Piercing the Veil of Incorporation

​Valiente Jet Limited, through its legal representative M.E. Oru, SAN, fought aggressively against the forfeiture during the final arguments on April 30, 2026. The defence argued that Kachallah was legally distinct from his corporate entities and questioned the admissibility of the EFCC’s investigative exhibits.

​Oru maintained that the payments from CMEC were legitimate consultancy fees agreed upon to facilitate the smooth execution of the power intervention.

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​However, the EFCC prosecution team, led by Iheanacho Ekele, SAN, and O.S. Ujam, successfully dismantled the defence. Ekele pressed the court to “pierce the corporate veil,” citing the settled judicial precedent of Oyebanji vs State, which dictates that incorporation cannot be used as a shield for individuals committing fraud. The prosecution further proved that Kachallah’s actions directly violated Sections 8, 10, and 53 of the ICPC Act, alongside strict provisions of the Money Laundering and Prohibition Act.

​The Final Verdict

​Upholding the federal government’s application, Justice Nwite held that neither Valiente Jet Limited nor Kachallah could adequately demonstrate a clean, lawful origin for the millions used to buy the aircraft.

​The judge noted that the highly disguised nature of the transaction—including utilizing a BDC operator who openly denied knowing the true underlying purpose of the funds—left no doubt as to its illegality.

​The ruling marks the conclusion of a forfeiture process that began on November 13, 2025, when the court initially granted an interim forfeiture order. With no sufficient cause shown by the looters, the luxury jet now stands as a recovered asset of the state, symbolic of a power project compromised for personal luxury.