Court clears ex-minister Stella Oduah of N2.5bn fraud case

A federal capital territory high court has cleared Stella Oduah, a former aviation minister of N2.5 billion fraud charges following a settlement with the federal government.

The ruling followed a report by Rotimi Oyedepo, the director of public prosecution of the federation confirming that the defendants had refunded the funds at the center of the allegations.

The court, presided over by Judge Hamza Muazu, struck out the charges and formally discharged the two individuals.

While the former minister and her co-defendant were cleared, the court convicted two corporate entities—Sobora International Limited and Global Offshore Marine Limited through which the alleged fraud was conducted.

The companies were ordered to make restitution totaling N1.2 billion to the federal government, in addition to forfeiting N780 million recovered during the investigation.

The charges stemmed from allegations that the defendants obtained N2.5 billion from the ministry of aviation between January 2014 and February 2014, disguised as payments for technical supervision, security, and logistics services.

The case had been under plea-bargaining provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.

Ms Oduah, who served as Minister of Aviation from July 2011 to February 2014 under former President Goodluck Jonathan, later represented Anambra North Senatorial District in the National Assembly from 2015 to 2023.

The court proceedings marked the conclusion of months of settlement negotiations that delayed the trial, which had begun following the defendants’ arraignment in December 2025.