An Abuja High Court has reportedly voided a criminal charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Ufoma Joseph Immanuel, founder and managing director of Chappal Energies, in a fresh development in the businessman’s legal battle with the anti-graft agency.
Justice Josephine Obanor of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, reportedly set aside the charge on Wednesday, October 28, 2026.
However, the specific grounds on which the court voided the charge and the precise scope of the order could not be independently confirmed from the publicly available reports reviewed by IBN News.
The development comes amid a series of legal disputes involving Immanuel, the EFCC and other parties over allegations of financial wrongdoing and a wider disagreement concerning the ownership, management and control of businesses associated with Chappal Energies.
In November 2025, the EFCC declared Immanuel wanted over allegations of obtaining money under false pretences and forgery. The company challenged the action, arguing that the commission had acted despite an existing court order restricting enforcement measures against its managing director.
Court documents reported by The Guardian showed that Justice Obanor had granted an interlocutory injunction on September 11, 2025, restraining the EFCC and other listed respondents from inviting, questioning, arresting or detaining Immanuel, or taking other specified action against him and Chappal Energies, pending the determination of the suit.
The company maintained that the EFCC’s subsequent wanted notice disregarded the court order and raised concerns about compliance with due process.
In February 2026, the Federal High Court in Lagos, presided over by Justice Dehinde Dipeolu, ruled against the EFCC’s wanted notice. The court reportedly ordered the commission to withdraw the publication and awarded ₦5 million in damages over the infringement of Immanuel’s fundamental rights.
Separately, Immanuel and his company, Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited, faced a two-count EFCC charge relating to an alleged $1.5 million investment transaction involving businessman Adebisi Adebutu and R28 Holdings Limited.
The prosecution alleged that the defendants induced the investor to provide funds through representations concerning investments in associated businesses, reimbursement and shareholding interests. Immanuel and the company pleaded not guilty to the allegations.
The allegations remain subject to judicial determination, and a court decision setting aside a particular charge does not, by itself, establish the truth or falsity of every allegation in the wider dispute.
The Chappal Energies dispute has also generated separate civil proceedings concerning company ownership and control. In October 2026, the Federal High Court in Lagos granted interim orders restraining R28 Limited and its founder, Adebisi Adebutu, from interfering with specified company assets and restricting dealings with financial assets up to $100 million, pending further proceedings. The court also directed that specified corporate records be preserved.
That order was an interim measure and did not amount to a final determination of the underlying commercial dispute.
The latest reported decision by Justice Obanor adds another development to the complicated legal proceedings surrounding Immanuel and Chappal Energies. The court’s written ruling or a detailed report of its reasoning would be necessary to establish precisely why the charge was voided and whether the decision affects any other proceedings.
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