ADE BAMIDELE
You may have seen front-page headlines and advertorials claiming the EFCC “recovered $60 million” in an ongoing Nestoil investigation. This is a sponsored, misleading narrative designed to score cheap media points.
On July 8, 2026, the EFCC Chairman convened a private, conciliatory meeting between Nestoil/Neconde and its lenders to resolve commercial issues amicably. Both sides attended with top legal counsel, including Senior Advocates of Nigeria, and financial advisers. The EFCC explicitly noted that the relationship is purely commercial, symbiotic, and vital to Nigeria’s economy.
This comes after the Supreme Court of Nigeria delivered judgment in Appeal Nos. SC/CV/48/2026 and SC/CV/1130/2025, condemning the lenders’ aggressive legal tactics as a “scandalous and despicable engagement in gross abuse of judicial process.” That apex court ruling removed illegal bottlenecks and led directly to the re-opening of the iconic Nestoil Towers in Victoria Island.
Lead counsels for both sides had already agreed on terms for a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), with final revisions due this week alongside a mutual commitment to refrain from media campaigns. Unfortunately, one recalcitrant lender, whose Holdco Chairman previously tried and failed to force a share-allocation deal in Neconde, decided to scuttle the resolution process by leaking a distorted account of a confidential meeting held over a month ago.
Nestoil and Neconde remain fully committed to a mature, lawful resolution of all commercial matters, but will not sit back while corporate raiders attempt to use media blackmail and false criminal narratives to sabotage genuine progress.