The Indimi name has long stood for oil wealth and quiet philanthropy in northern Nigeria. But instead of the family’s current chapter being written in boardrooms or charity galas, it is being carved into court filings.
Muhammadu Indimi’s twin daughters, Ameena and Zara, have won a $43.5 million judgment against his company, Oriental Energy Resources. Now they are fighting to collect it, and the battle has pulled in four tier-one Nigerian banks.
The dispute dates back to 2015. The sisters say they each held a five per cent equity stake in Oriental Energy, entitling them to a share of a $435 million dividend pool. They claim those stakes were reduced to about 0.6 per cent each without their consent.
Oriental Energy counters that the daughters voluntarily transferred their shares and received settlement payments totalling several million dollars. Justice N.E. Maha of the Federal High Court in Abuja believed the sisters, ordering Oriental to pay $43.51 million plus 10 per cent annual interest.
That was January 2026. In February, Justice P.O. Lifu issued a garnishee order, directing Stanbic IBTC, GTBank, Access Bank and Zenith Bank to freeze all Oriental Energy accounts nationwide. Access and Zenith apparently complied. GTBank allegedly failed to disclose two accounts holding substantial funds. But the sharpest accusation landed on Stanbic IBTC.
The sisters allege the bank allowed approximately $30 million to move out of Oriental Energy’s accounts after the freeze order was served, then claimed in its affidavit that Oriental was indebted to it by N900 million and disclosed no accounts at all.
At a March 13 hearing, plaintiff counsel put the allegations formally before the court. The sisters’ filings described conduct pointing to possible collusion aimed at frustrating the enforcement of a valid judgment. The court adjourned until April 16 to allow the banks to respond to potential contempt proceedings.
Oriental Energy has appealed the January judgment and applied to set aside the garnishee order. A stay of execution would pause everything. But for now, the Indimi family’s private war is very public, and the question is no longer who is right but who will blink.
Leave a comment