EFCC Hunts Fugitive Oil Tycoon Over Suspected Multibillion-Naira Scam Tied To NNPCL Boss

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has launched an intensified manhunt for Abdullahi Bashir Haske, founder of AA & R Investment Group, after fresh revelations linked him to questionable dealings with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

Haske, a close confidant of NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, is at the centre of widening allegations of fraud, money laundering, and abuse of office. Investigators believe he played a key role in orchestrating a lavish NNPCL management retreat in Kigali, Rwanda, where five private jets were reportedly chartered to fly company executives to the luxury getaway.

Although he was once detained and had his passport seized, sources confirmed to our correspondent that the embattled oil magnate slipped out of the country using alternative travel documents. The EFCC has since declared him wanted, urging the public to provide credible information about his whereabouts through its offices, hotlines, and official email channels.

Inside sources at the Commission disclosed that more than $56 million was traced to Haske’s network of accounts in just the last three months, fuelling suspicions of large-scale money laundering and bulk transfers linked to NNPC EnServe Ltd., a subsidiary of the company’s upstream directorate.

The crisis deepened after the Coalition of Nigerian Patriots for Good Governance accused Ojulari’s leadership of handing Haske’s firm a ?5.7 billion consultancy contract without transparency or competitive bidding. The civic group described the deal as “an audacious daylight looting,” arguing that the company had no proven track record to justify the award.

They also pointed to what they called a “culture of reckless spending” within NNPCL, citing both the secretive consultancy deal and the extravagant Kigali retreat as examples of systemic financial misconduct.

With Haske now a fugitive and pressure mounting on NNPCL leadership, civil society organisations insist that accountability must prevail, especially at a time when “over 200 million Nigerians are trapped in multidimensional poverty.”

The EFCC has vowed to pursue the case to its logical conclusion, but the saga has already stirred public outrage and raised uncomfortable questions about integrity at the apex of Nigeria’s oil industry.