The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has officially declared Ufoma Joseph Immanuel, the Managing Director and CEO of Chappal Energies, wanted over serious financial crime allegations. According to a public notice, he is being pursued for “obtaining money by false pretense and forgery.”
In the notice, the EFCC listed his last known address as 77 Nelson Mandela Street, Maitama, Abuja, and asked for help from the public to locate him. Tip-offs, the agency said, can be made via its offices across the country or through its hotline (0809 332 2644) and a provided email.
Who Is Ufoma Immanuel and What Is Chappal Energies?
Ufoma Immanuel, 46 years old and a native of Edo State, is not just CEO of Chappal Energies, he’s also a founding partner. Before leading Chappal, he worked in corporate finance and strategy at Eroton Exploration and Production.
Chappal Energies is an ESG-driven (environmental, social, governance), energy-independent firm focused on developing “distressed brownfield upstream assets” in Nigeria’s Niger Delta. The company has been active in trying to acquire and manage assets left behind by larger oil players.
Chappal Energies Pushes Back: Claims EFCC Violated Due Process
In a strongly worded response, Chappal Energies rejected the EFCC’s public notice, arguing that the agency bypassed standard legal procedures. According to the company, Immanuel and its offices are “fully reachable” through publicly known addresses, phone lines, and electronic contacts—all of which, they say, the EFCC ignored before issuing the wanted notice.
Chappal cited a court injunction granted by the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja (Justice J.E. Obanor), dated September 11, 2025. The injunction, the company claims, restrains the EFCC from inviting, arresting, questioning, or detaining Immanuel or acting against Chappal Energies until the matter in court is resolved.
For Chappal, the public declaration appears to them not as a legitimate enforcement action but a “public escalation” or spectacle, potentially influenced by other actors, rather than a measured law-enforcement move. Despite the serious allegations, the company insists its operations are uninterrupted, and its leadership remains focused on long-term value for its stakeholders.
Possible Underlying Tensions: Business, Legal Disputes, and Reputation Risk
Chappal’s response hints that there may be more than just a criminal probe at play: the company claims it has been under “coordinated pressures” tied to a civil dispute. While exact details of that dispute haven’t been made public, the timing suggests it could be related to broader corporate or financial conflicts.
Part of the tension may also stem from a previously reported collapsed $860 million divestment deal with TotalEnergies, in which Chappal was either unable or unwilling to meet certain financial obligations. That failure has raised eyebrows in the investment and energy space, and the EFCC’s allegations could be tied, at least in public perception, to that business fallout.
Legal and Business Implications
The move by the EFCC is significant. Declaring a corporate CEO “wanted” is a serious escalation and could potentially damage Chappal’s reputation among investors, partners, and regulators. Even as Chappal insists on its innocence and adherence to due process, the controversy could jeopardize future deals, especially in an industry as capital-intensive as oil and gas.
If the EFCC’s allegations hold up in court, the fallout could be massive, not just for Immanuel personally, but for Chappal’s business model, investor confidence, and its standing in Nigeria’s upstream energy sector.
On the flip side, if Chappal prevails in its legal challenge, it could set a precedent on how enforcement agencies handle high-level corporate investigations and respect court orders.
What’s Next
- Chappal has signaled it will take “appropriate legal steps” in response to the notice.
- The public, for now, is being asked by the EFCC to help locate Immanuel, a development that could intensify scrutiny.
- Observers will likely watch how the courts handle the case, and whether the injunction will hold or be challenged by the EFCC.
The EFCC’s declaration that Chappal Energies’ CEO is wanted for alleged fraud raises serious questions about corporate governance, due process, and the stakes of energy investments in Nigeria. Chappal, for its part, maintains the notice was a violation of legal norms, and with a court order already in place, the next few weeks will be critical for both the company and Immanuel.
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