A shareholding dispute arising from a business transaction between the Managing Director of Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited, IIHL, Mr Ufoma Joseph Immanuel, and businessman, Mr Adebisi Adebutu, owner of R28 Holdings Limited, has escalated into a criminal prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
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The EFCC had, on March 11, 2026, arraigned Immanuel and his company, IIHL, before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja on a two-count charge bordering on alleged forgery and obtaining $1.5 million by false pretence.
The charges followed a petition filed by Adebutu after a disagreement over a business transaction involving alleged shareholding interests in IIHL.
According to the EFCC, Immanuel allegedly induced Adebutu to invest $1.5 million in IIHL between April 2022 and October 2023.
The commission alleged that the investment was meant to cover projects involving Chappal Petroleum Development Company Limited, business development costs in IIHL, and capital expenditure in Chappal Energies Mauritius Limited.
The EFCC further alleged that Immanuel assured Adebutu that the investment would be refunded alongside a development capital fee of $2.25 million and a 22.4 per cent equity stake in IIHL.
It contended that the representations were false.
The anti-graft agency also alleged that Immanuel forged a term sheet bearing the signatures of Sheriff Oluwo and Olaniran Osatuyi to induce Adebutu and R28 Holdings Limited to invest the funds in exchange for shares in IIHL.
However, the criminal proceedings in Lagos are running alongside a separate civil action filed by Adebutu and R28 Holdings before the Supreme Court of Mauritius against IIHL, Immanuel and Ocorian (Mauritius) Limited over the same business transaction.
Court documents from the Mauritius proceedings reportedly show that Adebutu and R28 Holdings are seeking recognition of a 22.4 per cent shareholding interest in IIHL based on the same term sheet which the EFCC alleged was forged in the Lagos criminal charge.
Following his arraignment, Immanuel applied for bail through his legal team.
His counsel argued that he is a prominent player in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, has no reason to flee, and voluntarily appeared before the court after becoming aware of the charge.
Justice Dada, however, dismissed both his preliminary objections and bail application on May 7, 2026.
Subsequent applications seeking his release have also been unsuccessful, despite the offences being bailable under Nigerian law.
Before the Lagos arraignment, Justice Josephine Obanor of the FCT High Court had, on September 11, 2025, granted an interlocutory injunction restraining the EFCC and other respondents from inviting, questioning, arresting, detaining or taking any action against Immanuel or Chappal Energies pending the determination of the substantive suit.
The case has now raised questions over the intersection of civil commercial disputes, parallel foreign proceedings and criminal prosecution, particularly as the parties continue to contest the nature and legal effect of the alleged investment and shareholding arrangement.
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