Finally A Serial Trickster is exposed

By Ejiogu Amadike

“Behind every great fortune there is a crime.” That is the epigraph to The Godfather, by Mario Puzo. Puzo attributed the quote to Balzac.

Balzac was a bit more nuanced: (in translation from the original French) he said: “The secret of a great success for which you are at a loss to account is a crime that has never been found out, because it was properly executed.

No doubt there are great, honest fortunes. But in our world, when the fortune doesn’t add up, the reason is often fraud. False statements, made with the intent to deceive. Innocent reliance on those statements. And a fortune that results from that reliance.

That is the story I am about to share with you.
Everybody knows Ambrose Orjiakor, but only a few know that beneath his great wealth lies great crimes bordering on serial breaches of trust and conspiracies to commit crime.

For years Dr. A.B.C. Orjiakor has strutted the Nigerian corporate world as the doyen of hard work and entrepreneul prowess. He is the Chairman of Seplat Energy Company and Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc,Abbeycourt Oil etc . He is seen by many as a man with the fabled Midas touch, who turns everything he touches into gold. Most Nigerians saw him as a model of rectitude and integrity. But it is all a façade. Behind the glitz and razzmatazz lies a sinister and hidden side unknown to many. Beneath the false flag of a captain of industry and business mogul lurks a sinister profile. Unknown to Nigerians he has always had a dubious and fraudulent character. What lurked underneath is a high level trickster who targets banks and high network individuals for his dubious scheme. He borrows money and defaults on payment as well as engaging in well-choreographed swindles that has left many of his business associates,inlaws and partners in distress.

A.B.C Orjiakors’ murky schemes were finally outed in an article in Thisday Newspaper written by Bayo Akinloye and titled “Again, Orjiakor on the wrong side of history”.

As detailed as the article was, it merely scratched the surface of what appears to be a lifetime and lifestyle of sleaze and swindling.

In his nebulous scams Orjiakor recognizes neither friends nor foes or family etc. To show how unconscionable he can be, I will walk you through some of his schemes targeted at those who ordinarily should be family to him.

One of Orjiakors’ victims is his own in- law, Uche Samson Akpuru, an enterprising business magnet and philanthropist. He is married to A.B.C Orjiakor’s sister, Uche. Orjiakor took over one Million dollars from Uche Akpuru in the 1980s and promptly defaulted on payment as is his usual pattern. Pleas and entreaties to pay back hit a brick wall. Today, his in-law and victim of his swindle, Sampson Uche Akpuru, is seriously sick and is currently being looked after by a co-in-law. Ambrose Orjiakors’s sister, Uche, promptly abandoned her husband, Sampson Uche Akpuru to his fate, following the downturn in his business.

Another of his in-laws, Sir (Dr) Emma Mbaka has similar tales of woes. Emma Mbaka is a wealthy developer and philanthropist and was married to A.B.C. Orjiakors sister, Ngozi. He is the Managing Director of Platinum Mortgage Bank. Orjiakor took huge sums from him and evaporated. He has long defaulted on payment. His other sister Ngozi, equally abandoned her marriage with Emma Mbaka, when their schemes to swindle her husband failed.

Another of his in-laws, Eze C.C. Nwuche suffered a worse fate. Eze C.C. Nwuche married A.B.C. Orjiakor’s sister, named Christy. The Orjiakor’s were then indegent. Eze Nwuche trained A.B.C. Orjiakor until he graduated as a medical doctor from the University of Calabar. His sisters Ngozi and Uche were also trained by Eze C.C. Nwuche. He paid back Eze Nwuche in his usual rough coin. Orjiakor was introduced into the oil and gas sector by Eze C C Nwuche. Through the hold his sister had on Eze Nwuche, he not only swindled huge sums from him, but also connived and took over his in-laws business partners, MARC RICH and later GLENCORE, both international oil traders based in Switzerland. He left Eze Nwuche bitter and frustrated.

According to a source familiar with the story, “his in-laws have really suffered in his hands. The same source noted that contrary to the public perception of Orjiakor, the traits of cheating people has always been there”.

Another victim of Ambrose Orjiakor is former Anambra state governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju. Today, Mbadinuju continues to rue the day he met Ambrose Orjiakor. Early into Mbadinuju’s tenure as governor, he was introduced to Ambrose Orjiakor. The relationship was rewarding for Orjiakor as the ex governor showered him with mouthwatering contracts. He was meant to be a conduit to the governor for laundering money. Years later Mbadinuju lamented that he was ruined by Orjiakor. All the money Mbadinuju gave to him for ‘warehousing’ disappeared into thin air. To make matters worse, monies Mbadinuju routed through him to buy a maritime vessel was used to procure the vessel in Ambrose Orjiakor’s name. He never did give any money back to Mbadinuju.He pushed Mbadinuju into a near war with Sir Emeka Offor a famous philanthropist and actively egged him,today he has warmed his way into Offor,s circle to the extent of partnering to take over Addax Petroleum.We will hear Offors litany in no distant time,as with all his other victims.

Just recently, Mr Orjiako was pressured to announce that he will be stepping down from Seplat Energy's board of directors in May 2022, on account if his serial schemes that had potrayed the oil company in bad light. The board of Seplat Energy thanked him for his "strategic vision, drive and limitless energy".

It is nice clear his forced exit from Seplat is responsible for his latest moves as he is currently known to be cozying up to Emeka Offor, as an advisor in the latters bid to buy Addax Petroleum. An insider in the deal expressed concerns that Orjiakors’ major target may be to offload Emeka Offors money and disappear as usual. He is also known to be moving close to Chief Timi Sylva, and positioning himself as a front. The Petroleum Minister should watch out as the relationship will go up in a smoke of scams and swindles.

Contrary to the mien Orjiakor presents to the public, lies the visage of a back room wheeler dealer without boundaries. Recent documents have exposed a connection between him and the Malabu oil scam. The Malabu case, has been ranked as Nigeria's biggest government-backed corporate heist. The deal began in 1998 when Mr Etete was petroleum minister under Sani Abacha. Alongside the kleptocrat dictator, they seized the OPL 245 and awarded it to Malabu, a company set up by Mr Etete and Mr Abacha's son.

The revelations are contained in documents filed by Agip, a subsidiary of the Italian oil major, Eni, at a U.S. court. According to the new documents, the Seplat chairman helped negotiate payment for the lucrative oil block and in the end, took a cut of the huge pay-out.

Ambrose Orjiako played the role of a top adviser to Dan Etete in the infamous Malabu scandal, in which the Nigerian government controversially handed a lucrative oil field to Mr Etete, who sold it to Shell and Eni and shared part of the proceeds with some senior government officials.

New court records show that between 2009 and 2011, Mr Orjiako, who is the chairman of Seplat Energy, Nigeria's biggest quoted oil and gas company, took part in several meetings between Mr Etete, Shell and Eni, where they negotiated the amount to be paid to Mr Etete for Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245.

Mr Orjiako, who previously led Shebah Petroleum, helped arrange at least one of such meetings, and informed Shell officials that the attorney general at the time, Mohammed Adoke, was willing to meet with them to move the discussions forward.

He attended a meeting on October 6, 2009, alongside Mr Etete, Umaru Bature (a former member of the House of Representatives who prosecutors said represented the interest of Aliyu Gusau, former National Security Adviser), Peter Robinson (Shell's commercial vice president for sub-Saharan Africa) and Guy Colegate (senior business advisor of Shell International Exploration & Production) where OPL 245 was discussed.

In the end, Helko Nigeria Ltd., a company in which Mr Orjiako was director, got $2.2 million from the booty.

The Malabu case, began in 1998 when Mr Etete was petroleum minister under Sani Abacha. The company was set up by Mr Etete and Mr Abacha's son. Mr Etete assumed control of the firm after Mr Abacha's death, and controversy over the ownership of the block and the company lingered for years with the Olusegun Obasanjo administration at one point revoking the award, triggering legal battles.

The Jonathan government eventually recognised Mr Etete as the owner of the block, and helped negotiate its transfer to Shell and Eni for $1.3 billion. The windfall was shared between Mr Etete and top cabinet members in the government, court records show. Shell and Eni and their officials have been tried in Europe for their roles in the transaction.

While it was known Mr Orjiako had links to the Malabu case, it was not exactly clear what his role was - until now.

New documents say Mr Orjiako's entry into the Malabu talks as an adviser to Mr Etete was helped by his past relationship with Shell officials who trusted him. He attended meetings where the amount to be paid to Mr Etete was discussed. One meeting spoke about reverting to a 1998/99 arrangement in which Shell acted as a technical partner to Malabu in exchange for 40 per cent of the oil field. Shell would then pay Mr Etete for the 40 per cent equity.

The oil firm demanded that its payment take into account the funds it already expended on the field (exploration and signature bonus, together $600 million - according to the court document).

The talks reached a stalemate when Mr Etete turned down Shell's initial offer of $300 million. Mr Etete said other investors were interested in the oil block and held talks with Eni separately. He also rejected Eni's offer.

"Etete asked Shell to come up with a figure for what they would pay for the 40% farm-in. We made it clear that after stripping out costs incurred to date the number was going to be very low and almost certainly way off what he was aspiring to," one Shell official wrote in an email.

"Etete keen though for us to name a figure so we could start negotiating... . We agreed to go back and do some work on this, and get back to him in a couple of weeks - but underlining that Shell internal processes could mean this taking a little longer."

At this point, Mr Orjiako assured Shell officials that Mr Etete would accept a better offer. To resolve the deadlock, the attorney general, Mr Adoke, met with all sides, including Shell, Eni, and Malabu, the records said.

"The following persons participated: For Shell: Peter Robinson (Regional Vice President), German Burmeister (Commercial Manager), and Keibi Atemie (Legal); For Malabu: Chief Seidu Munamuna (Board Director), Rasky Gbinigie (Company Secretary), accompanied by Alhaji Abubaker Aliyu, Femi Akinmade, and ABC Orjiako, as advisors. For ENI: R. Casula, V. Armanna, G. Zappalà, E. Caligaris in continuous contact with the departments at head office," the document said.

Mr Adoke later rejected Shell's plan in the draft agreement to pay the new agreed amount only after a licence had been issued for the block. Shell insisted it could not do otherwise, setting off another impasse. It was Mr Orjiako who helped arrange another meeting, advising Shell officials that the attorney general was willing to meet and continue talks. Shell later agreed to make payment at the time of signing the agreement, ahead of the issuance of a licence.

Helko Nigeria Limited, owned by Mr Orjiako was later paid $2,208,201.90 from the Malabu money. The real estate and property firm was registered in 1997 as a subsidiary of Ordrec Group Limited, according to corporate registration documents. It had two directors: Mr Orjiako and his wife, Chioma Orjiako.

One may ask why an ostensibly rich man needs to trick people for money. The answer lies in the fact that Orjiakor is not as successful as he lets people to believe. Infact his indebtedness is far more than his assets. His business woe which he had cleverly covered up for years, have finally erupted and is threatening to bury him in a tidal tsunami of litigations and foreclosures.

Already there are moves within the financial sector to get the Central Bank of Nigeria to assist individuals and banks who have fallen victim to Orjiakor’s “borrow and default” scam to recover the huge sum given out to him in order to guarantee soundness of the financial system as well as to engender confidence in the industry.

From all indication, Orjiako appears to be gaining notoriety as a bad borrower and analysts have stressed the need for commercial banks across the world and the Central Bank of Nigeria to reassess if he still possesses what bankers call the Five C’s of credit (character, capacity, capital, collateral, and conditions).

That is why recalcitrant debtors such as Orjiako, who are in the habit of moving from one bank to another, with a deliberate plan not to repay, must be prevented from destroying the financial system.

Recently, the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) had through its lawyers written all commercial and merchant banks in the country, directing them to forthwith, stop Sheba Exploration & Production Company and Orjiako and Allenne Limited from withdrawing monies from their accounts domiciled in all the banks.

In addition, the interim order by the court then, had given the Receiver/Manager the mandate to take over all the assets of Sheba E & P, its subsidiaries and affiliate companies, the personal assets of Orjiakor (including his homes at Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, in London and Maryland in the US), his offices and offices of SEPLAT, a floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO), as well as the shares of SEPLAT Petroleum and Development Company Plc and Platform Petroleum, pending the determination of the case.

Lexavier Partners Legal Practitioners, solicitors to AMCON, had disclosed this in a letter dated August 16, 2019. Specifically, on August 15, 2019, Justice T.O. Taiwo, had in a ruling at a Federal High Court, at the Abuja, in an interim order against the defendants and in favour of AMCON, had appointed Francis Chuka Agbu, (SAN), as Receiver/Manager.

Lexavier Partners Legal Practioners, in the letter had stated: “We refer to the above subject matter in which we act as Solicitors to AMCON, which is the plaintiff in the suit.

“We wish to inform you that on Thursday, August 15, 2019, the Federal High Court, holden at the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, coral, Honourable Justice TO Taiwo, made the attached order against the defendants and in favour of AMCON.

“By the said Order, your bank is mandated to henceforth prevent all further withdrawal(s) of funds and other debit transactions from the defendants’ account (s) domiciled with your bank and also furnish the Receiver/Manager within seven days from the date of this notice, with comprehensive statements in respect of each account.”


Another victim of Orjiakor’s schemes, Access Bank, is presently in a legal tussle with Orjiako, Seplat as a company; Cardinal Drilling Nigeria Limited, another company associated with the businessman, and Kalu Nwosu, Managing Director of Cardinal Drilling Nigeria Limited, over an indebtedness put at $85.8 million.

On December 2, 2020, the head office of Seplat, a listed company on the NGX and the London Stock Exchange (LSE) was sealed up following a court order which permitted a receiver/manager, Messrs Kunle Ogunba & Co to enforce an ex parte motion requesting that Access Bank take over the oil and gas company’s head office, due to the Cardinal Drilling Nigeria loan taken from Diamond Bank.


It was gathered that in 2012, Cardinal Drilling Services Limited applied for and obtained a credit facility from Diamond Bank to buy CDS Rigs 101, 201, 202 and 203.


The loan was secured by a fixed and floating Debenture over Cardinal’s assets and the Cardinal Rigs were allegedly used to provide drilling services to Seplat. But Cardinal Drilling was unable to service the facility, prompting Access Bank to approach the court to enforce its rights.


The assets affected by the Mareva order included; 25, Lugard Avenue, Ikoyi, Lagos, 6, Agodogba Avenue, Parkview, Ikoyi, Lagos and the one at 11, Oba Adeyinka Oyekan Street, Ikoyi, Lagos.

In a cascade of business woes, Orjiako’s company, Seplat, recently disclosed that it had received an order from a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, that prevents it from transacting any form of business with the assets of Orjiako and some other entities.

The notification on the matter titled: “Interim Orders of Mareva Injunctions granted in the court action by Zenith Bank PLC against Shebah Exploration & Production Company Limited and Others,” was posted on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) website.

It read: “Seplat Energy has been made aware of the ex parte Interim Orders of Mareva Injunctions which were granted by the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, Nigeria in a court action instituted by Zenith Bank PLC against Shebah Exploration & Production Company Limited and 8 others, with an additional 29 cited parties.

“The Interim Orders give an administrative mandate to Seplat Energy Plc and others not to deal with the assets of (or transfer funds to) Shebah Exploration & Production Company Limited, Shebah Petroleum Development Company Limited and Dr. A.B.C. Orjiako. The order has no impact on the operations of Seplat Energy. We understand the injunction relates to loans made by Zenith Bank Plc to Shebah Exploration & Production Company Limited in 2014.”

As a result of the development, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc, where Orjiako is the company Chairman on Friday notified investors on the NGX and other stakeholders that it would adhere to the directive of the court not to deal on the assets of its embattled chairman nor transfer funds to him and other parties listed in the suit.


Access Bank and Zenith Bank are just few of the financial institutions that have dragged the Orjiakor to court over his indebtedness. The two financial institutions have vowed to take every step within the ambit of law to recover this huge amount of debt.