A Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos State, has ordered the substituted service of contempt proceedings on the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, over the commission’s alleged disobedience of a court order.
Justice Dehinde Dipeolu authorised the substituted service of Form 48, a notice warning of the consequences of disobeying a court order, on Olukoyede through the EFCC’s Legal Department in Abuja.
The judge granted the application filed by Ufoma Immanuel, founder and managing director of Chappal Energies, after his counsel, C.U. Wogu of Tunji Braithwaite Law Partners, told the court that attempts to serve the notice on the EFCC chairman personally had been frustrated.
A copy of the order was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday.
The application arose from the EFCC’s alleged failure to comply with an order restraining it from taking steps against Immanuel over a dispute involving the ownership and control of Chappal Energies and shareholder rights.
The commission had declared Immanuel wanted in a public notice published on its social media platforms on November 19, 2025, following a petition by his business partner, Adebisi Adebutu of R28 Ltd.
The EFCC accused Immanuel of obtaining money by false pretences and forgery.
However, on September 11, 2025, Justice Josephine Obanor of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, had restrained the EFCC and other respondents from arresting, detaining or prosecuting Immanuel over issues arising from shareholding arrangements, cross-shareholding agreements, subscription rights and contractual obligations between him and Adebutu.
Obanor also held that the dispute was civil in nature.
Despite the order, the EFCC initiated criminal proceedings against Immanuel in another court of coordinate jurisdiction.
Immanuel subsequently challenged the commission’s wanted notice at the Federal High Court in Lagos.
On February 10, 2026, Dipeolu ruled that the publication violated Immanuel’s constitutional rights to personal liberty and freedom of movement.
The judge held that the EFCC lacked the power to restrict Immanuel’s fundamental rights in the matter despite the subsisting court order.
He directed the commission to withdraw all publications declaring Immanuel wanted and replace them with a public notice retracting the declaration.
The court also ordered the EFCC to pay Immanuel N5 million in compensation for violating his rights to personal liberty, freedom of movement and dignity.
On March 11, 2026, the EFCC arraigned Immanuel and his company, Intermediate Investment Holdings Ltd., before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja Division, on a two-count charge of forgery and obtaining $1.5 million by false pretences.
In October 2026, Obanor issued another injunction reaffirming her earlier order and restraining the EFCC from continuing the criminal proceedings at the Lagos State High Court.
The judge held that the September 11, 2025 order remained binding on the commission and other respondents because it had neither been set aside nor lawfully discharged.
In the latest ruling, Dipeolu granted Immanuel’s application for substituted service but declined to deem the service automatically sufficient.
