High Court seeks to seize properties linked to ABDULRAHMAN BASHAR's over $40m debt

Friday, September 25, 2026 - Federal High Court officials started enforcement proceedings on Wednesday against properties linked to the Chairman of Rahamaniyya Group of Companies, Alhaji Abdulrahman Musa Bashar, over an approximately $40 million debt owed to Petrichor Energy.

The enforcement action took place in Lagos and Abuja following a February 25, 2026, court order allowing Petrichor to register an English court judgment for enforcement in Nigeria.

The Nigerian court issued writs of attachment and sale on May 15, directing the seizure and sale of assets belonging to Bashar and under a separate writ, Bashar and Ultimate Oil & Gas.

Enforcement officers started the exercise on September 23 across Lagos and Abuja, serving and posting court documents at properties connected to the respondents.

At one property in Maitama, Abuja, Bashar's lawyer challenged the court officials, saying they failed to produce proper Nigerian court documents authorizing seizure.

The lawyer argued that after registering the English judgment in Nigeria, Bashar should have been served with formal notice and given 14 days to respond.

He also said the parties were negotiating a settlement and that Bashar paid N1 billion the previous week.

The situation became tense when associates of Bashar tried to drive vehicles out of the compound, including Toyota Highlanders, a Mercedes-Benz and a Range Rover.

Police locked the gates, but the vehicles later left at high speed.

The enforcement action comes from a dispute starting with petroleum transactions between Petrichor and Ultimate Oil & Gas between 2022 and 2023.

Petrichor supplied gasoil and Jet-A1 aviation fuel but Ultimate failed to pay fully, leaving about $40 million outstanding.

The dispute moved through arbitration and courts in Dubai, London and the UAE.

In February 2025, the English court entered judgment against Bashar personally and Ultimate Oil & Gas with combined liability around $40.2 million.

A structured payment agreement was reached in April 2025 but Ultimate defaulted.

A worldwide freezing order was issued in March 2026 against Bashar and Ultimate covering about $40 million in assets across Nigeria, the UAE, the UK and France.

A Nigerian property valued at about $21.3 million was identified.

Bashar was sentenced to one year in prison by a Dubai criminal court on January 30, 2026, over financial misconduct involving dishonoured cheques totalling 126.45 million dirhams.