By our reporter 14.5.2026
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have in their custody the Energy Commission of Nigeria director-general, Dr Mustapha Abdullahi, over an alleged money laundering offences involving about ₦500bn.
Dr. Abdullahi’s arrest is causing ripples in the Nigeria Basketball Federation as he was being packaged by certain interests to take over the reins of the NBF board against the wish of many stakeholders.
Abdullahi, who the Kogi State Basketball Association chairman and Confluence Kings Basketball Club proprietor, was arrested in Abuja on Wednesday
Abdullahi’s rapid rise in basketball administration had already generated murmurs within the local game, especially after his privately-owned Confluence Kings Basketball Club reportedly secured promotion into the NBBF Premier League without passing through the conventional second and first division structure.
In October 2023, President Bola Tinubu appointed Abdullahi as Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Energy Commission of Nigeria after over a decade at the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
But in December 2025, the Network Against Corruption and Drug Trafficking petitioned the presidency, EFCC and ICPC over alleged corruption within the commission.
The group accused Abdullahi of orchestrating what it described as a coordinated scheme involving the award and payment of solar streetlight contracts worth hundreds of millions of naira to five companies allegedly linked to the same individuals.
Mustapha-Abdullahi...facing the law.