Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Justice O. M. Anyachebelu of the Anambra State High Court sitting in Awka has convicted and sentenced the Managing Director of Orient Petroleum Resources Plc, Engineer Nnaemeka Nwawka, and the Sage Nebefeife Foundation to 14 years’ imprisonment each for offences bordering on stealing, conversion, and gratification amounting to N25 billion.
The conviction followed a 10-year trial during which the defendants faced a 10-count charge brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
According to court documents, the defendants were accused of fraudulently converting company funds to personal use through transfers routed from Vhelbherg International Limited into the account of the Sage Nebefeife Foundation.
One of the counts detailed the alleged conversion of N82.85 million between April and December 2012, while another referenced N29.62 million transferred between January and May 2013 under similar circumstances.
The defendants pleaded not guilty, prompting a full trial.
EFCC counsel Victor Ukagwu led the prosecution, calling four witnesses and tendering documentary evidence admitted as exhibits P1 to P24.
Prosecutors argued that Nwawka facilitated the award of contracts from Orient Petroleum Resources Plc to companies linked to associates, after which funds were allegedly funneled back to him through his foundation and withdrawn for personal use.
Defence counsel, U. N. Udechukwu, SAN, and E.S.C. Obiora, SAN, presented arguments on behalf of their clients regarding the legitimacy of the contract processes. However, the court held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Justice Anyachebelu sentenced Nwawka and the Foundation to 14 years’ imprisonment each and ordered them to refund N140.9 million to Orient Petroleum Resources Plc.
The case originated from a petition by industrialist Chief Cletus Ibeto, who alleged that he invested N25 billion in the company but that funds were siphoned through suspicious contract awards and diverted via the foundation.
The ruling marks one of the most significant corporate fraud convictions delivered by a state high court in Anambra in recent years, reinforcing judicial scrutiny over corporate governance and fiduciary accountability in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
