Indimi sons back father in explosive $435 million oil battle with sisters

Key Points

• Ahmed joins brother Mustafa in supporting their father, Mohammed Indimi, against sisters’ $435 million dividend claim tied to Oriental Energy.
• Ameena and Zara Indimi allege they were misled and excluded from profits; brothers deny wrongdoing and defend company’s buyback of their shares.
• Despite the legal battle, Oriental Energy is deploying a new FPSO to boost production at Okwok Field, targeting 30,000 barrels per day.

Ahmed Indimi has joined his elder brother, Mustafa Indimi, in backing their father, Nigerian oil billionaire Mohammed Indimi, in a deepening legal dispute that pits them against their sisters over dividends tied to the family’s oil firm, Oriental Energy.

Ahmed backs father in court battle

The rift centers on a $435 million payout that sisters Ameena and Zara Indimi claim they were unfairly denied. Ahmed, who is also the son-in-law of former President Muhammadu Buhari, appeared in court as a witness for his father and the company, solidifying the defense’s stance.

Court filings show Ahmed’s testimony aligned with Oriental Energy’s claim that no impropriety occurred. Though the details remain sealed, his decision to testify against his sisters signals a serious divide in the family and reinforces the company’s argument that the lawsuit lacks merit.

The case, filed in Nigeria’s Federal High Court, could reshape not just the Indimi family’s internal dynamics, but also ownership structures in one of the country’s oldest privately owned oil firms. Legal experts say the outcome may set a precedent for similar disputes in Nigeria’s oil sector, where succession and revenue-sharing among family members are often flashpoints.

Siblings split on $435 million claim

This is not the first legal move from within the family. Two months before Ahmed’s appearance, his elder brother and Oriental Energy’s managing director, Mustafa Indimi, filed an affidavit also disputing their sisters’ claims. He denied that a $420 million dividend had ever been declared and dismissed suggestions that Ameena and Zara were coerced into giving up their shares.

According to Mustafa, the company legally bought back over 98 percent of the sisters’ shares in return for a $10 million payment, transactions he says were authorized through emails directly from their father. The sisters, however, argue they were misled and excluded from the company’s profits, and maintain that the declared dividends belong in part to them.

Their initial lawsuit, filed in 2022, landed before Justice Evelyn Maha in Abuja. But after she was transferred to another jurisdiction, the Chief Judge allowed her to continue overseeing the case by commuting back for hearings, an unusual arrangement that has led to repeated delays.

Frustrated, the sisters filed a second, nearly identical lawsuit before Justice Emeka Nwite, also in Abuja. This new case claims they’re owed $43.5 million of a revised $435 million dividend, adding another layer to an already complex courtroom battle now playing out on two fronts.

Mohammed Indimi bets big on oil

Founded in 1990, Oriental Energy is the centerpiece of Mohammed Indimi’s business empire. The company operates three offshore oil blocks in the Niger Delta, Ebok, Okwok, and OML 115, and manages crude exports through its Ebok Terminal.

Although Indimi’s net worth fell from $670 million in 2014 to $500 million the following year, leading Forbes to stop tracking his fortune, he has remained a prominent name in Nigeria’s corporate world. His investments go beyond oil, including a substantial stake in Jaiz Bank.

Even with tensions brewing within the family, operations at Oriental Energy have pressed on. In December 2024, Indimi unveiled a new Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, designed to store up to one million barrels of oil.

Scheduled for deployment at the Okwok Field, the vessel is expected to begin production at 17,000 barrels a day, with plans to increase output to 30,000 barrels. It’s currently en route from Dubai and is set to go online by mid-2025, an important development for both the company and Nigeria’s oil economy as the country seeks to strengthen production levels.