Nigerian oil tycoon Abdulrahman Bashar’s properties in Abuja and Lagos were targeted by bailiffs Wednesday, Sept. 23, as lawyers sought to enforce court orders obtained by Dubai-based fuel supplier Petrichor Energy FZCO over more than $40 million in unpaid obligations linked to fuel transactions.

Bashar, chairman of Rahamaniyya Group of Companies, is subject to enforcement proceedings after the High Court of Justice of England and Wales entered judgments against him and Ultimate Oil & Gas FZCO. Nigeria’s Federal High Court in Lagos subsequently granted Petrichor permission to enforce the English judgment locally.

Properties sealed in Abuja

In Abuja, enforcement officials pasted a court order on the gate of a property on Panama Crescent in Maitama and sealed the premises. They also visited Bashar’s main residence on Logone Close, where the operation met resistance. More than a dozen vehicles were driven from the compound, while a truck was also removed.

The enforcement team faced further obstruction in Lagos at an apartment in Parkview Estate, Ikoyi. A security guard initially blocked access before lawyers and the bailiff entered, but they were unable to obtain the apartment keys. Two of seven vehicles accompanying the team were also towed from the estate.

Court orders back recovery

The Nigerian proceedings stem from a Feb. 25 order granting Petrichor leave to register the English judgment for enforcement. On May 15, the Federal High Court issued writs of attachment and sale against assets linked to Bashar and Ultimate, authorizing recovery through the seizure and sale of goods, chattels and specified financial assets.

The dispute began with gasoil and Jet A1 aviation fuel supplied by Petrichor, formerly CE Energy DMCC, to Ultimate under spot contracts and a term agreement signed April 25, 2023. Ultimate initially paid for the cargoes but later fell behind on interest and demurrage, prompting arbitration at the Dubai International Arbitration Centre in November 2023.

The parties restructured the debt in January 2024, with Ultimate issuing nine undated cheques signed by Bashar and Bashar providing a personal guarantee. The cheques were returned unpaid, leading to a criminal complaint. Bashar was convicted in absentia and sentenced to one year in prison, but that conviction was later revoked at both parties’ request.

English judgments exceed $40 million

English courts entered summary judgments in February 2025, ordering Ultimate to pay 22.8 million dirhams and Bashar to pay 122.1 million dirhams under his guarantee, plus interest and costs. A subsequent April payment agreement set an installment schedule, but the court later found repeated defaults despite extensions and partial payments.

The amounts now outstanding are 120.09 million dirhams and £94,026 against Bashar, worth about $32.7 million, and 27.49 million dirhams and £63,859 against Ultimate, worth about $7.5 million. Together, the claims exceed $40 million and underpin Petrichor’s continuing recovery efforts.

The Nigerian action follows a worldwide asset-freezing order granted in Britain on March 30 covering Bashar’s assets in Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates, Britain and France. Petrichor is also pursuing recovery through DIFC courts in Dubai, extending the dispute across multiple jurisdictions as it seeks to collect the outstanding fuel-related obligations.