From Sola Ojo, Abuja
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured the conviction of Mohammed Gobir, who was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment by Justice R.I.B. Adebiyi of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja on Wednesday, July 9, 2025.
Gobir’s conviction followed a prolonged trial that began after his arrest on September 12, 2015, at his Ikoyi residence.
The arrest stemmed from a petition by outdoor advertising firm Afromedia Plc, which accused him of defrauding the company under the guise of a bogus investment proposal.
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According to the petition, Gobir was introduced to Afromedia by Synergy Capital Advisory Limited, its private placement consultants, in 2008.
He later offered to invest ₦1 billion in the company, a claim that secured him a strategic role as Chairman of the Business Development Committee on the company’s Board.
However, investigations by the EFCC revealed that Gobir exploited the trust of the board to defraud the company of hundreds of millions of naira and foreign currency.
He was arraigned by the EFCC on March 17, 2016, on a 17-count charge bordering on obtaining under false pretences, stealing, possession of fraudulent documents, and forgery.
One of the charges stated that Gobir obtained ₦514,457,151.87 from Afromedia between 2009 and 2011 by falsely claiming it was the cost of facilitating the transfer of $70 million from his alleged $250 million account with NATWEST Bank, London, as investment funds for the company. The claim was later proven to be false.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges, prompting a full trial in which the EFCC, represented by counsel Nnaemeka Omewa, presented four witnesses and several incriminating documents.
The defence called three witnesses in an attempt to refute the allegations.
In her judgment, Justice Adebiyi found Gobir guilty on multiple counts.
He received seven years’ imprisonment for obtaining under false pretences and six months each for two counts of stealing. He was also convicted for possessing fraudulent documents.
However, he was acquitted on the counts relating to forgery and possession of forged documents.
The judge ordered that all sentences run concurrently and further directed Gobir to pay $1 million and ₦123 million in restitution to Afromedia for the counts related to stealing.
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