EFCC Declares Oil Executive Seun Ogunbambo Wanted but Had Chance to Extradite Him in 2020

 

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) declared oil and gas executive Seun Ogunbambo wanted on Friday for defrauding the federal government of N976 million in subsidy funds. It claimed he was on trial but absconded after he was granted bail.

“Mr Seun Ogunbambo, Managing Director of Fargo Petroleum and Gas Limited is wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for allegedly defrauding the federal government of Nigeria in bogus oil subsidy claims to the tune of Nine Hundred and Seventy Six Million, Six Hundred and Fifty Three Thousand, One Hundred and Ten Naira, Twenty Eight Kobo (N976,653,110.28),” the EFCC announced on Friday.

“He was standing trial before a Lagos State High Court but disappeared after being released on bail. His co-defendants, Mamman Nasir and Christian Taylor, were convicted and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment each on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.”

However, this is not the first time the agency would declare Ogunbambo wanted. He was first declared wanted by the EFCC in 2013 alongside Habila Theck to have obtained funds by false pretence from the Petroleum Support Fund.

“They are wanted in connection with a case of conspiracy, forgery and obtaining the sum of Nine Hundred and Seventy Six Million, Six Hundred and Fifty Three Thousand, One Hundred and Ten Naira, Twenty Eight Kobo (N976, 653,110.28) from the Petroleum Support Fund by false pretence,” the EFCC stated.

“The duo have been standing trial before a Lagos State High Court but disappeared after being released on bail, forcing the court to issue a warrant for their arrest.”

A year later, the EFCC told the public that they were still looking for Ogunbambo.

However, after the 2014 announcement, the next time Ogunbambo made the news was when he was jailed for 18 months by the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons for “aggravated theft and use of false information” for a US passport application, according to a 2020 report by Peoples Gazette.

The Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) got an arrest warrant for him on November 27, 2019, for federal violations. After pleading guilty, he was jailed on October 27, 2020.

Documents showed that Ogunbambo used false names, social security numbers and birth dates to apply for US passports under the names Sean Bambo Benson, Sean Roberto Zacchaeus and Darron Roberto Zacchaeus.

The EFCC, despite Nigeria having an extradition treaty with the United States, refused to act to bring Ogunbambo home to answer for his crimes. In 2025, after he had finished his jail term in the US, he was declared wanted again.