Kudiwave Petitions IGP Over ₦750m PalmPay Transfer, Seeks Independent Probe

Kudiwave Technologies Limited has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, over the disputed transfer of more than ₦750 million from its PalmPay account, asking for an independent investigation into the handling of the funds by the Police Special Fraud Unit, Ikoyi, Lagos.

The petition, dated September 14, 2026, also challenges the police’s allegation that the funds were connected to an alleged “round-tripping” scheme involving Master Solution Concept Limited, Kredilink Technologies Limited, Nexall Technologies Limited and other companies.

Kudiwave, through its solicitor, Tony Eseigbe & Co., disputed the alleged connection between the money in its account and funds said to have originated from United Bank for Africa Plc.

The company maintained that it received the money from Nexall Technologies Limited as part of what it described as a legitimate commercial transaction, in exchange for corresponding digital-asset value.

According to the petition, Nexall transferred ₦250 million in three separate transactions, bringing the total amount credited to Kudiwave’s PalmPay account to approximately ₦750 million.

Kudiwave questioned why the entire amount was allegedly treated as proceeds connected to a disputed UBA transaction when, according to its account, only part of an earlier transaction involving Kredilink had been flagged.

The company said Nexall had received funds from several independent counterparties on March 28, including ₦200 million from Kredilink, ₦199.8 million from Fintrix Technologies Limited, ₦282.4 million from Sturdi-Steel Nigeria Limited and ₦101.69 million from GreatRex Global Concepts.

Kudiwave said those identified inflows amounted to about ₦783.9 million, arguing that the presence of multiple inflows into Nexall’s account was relevant to the question of how the subsequent payments to Kudiwave should be traced.

The petition also referred to a separate Federal High Court case, United Bank for Africa Plc v. Master Solution Concept Limited & 21 Ors, marked FHC/L/CS/680/2026.

Kudiwave said an order dated April 1, 2026, in that case concerned an alleged erroneous transfer of ₦713,913,076.32.

The company stressed that neither Kudiwave nor Nexall was a defendant in that suit and argued that the ₦713.9 millionreferenced in the UBA proceedings was different from the ₦750 million later transferred to its PalmPay account.

The dispute over the funds has also involved court proceedings concerning restrictions placed on Kudiwave’s account.

Kudiwave said the Police Special Fraud Unit had initially obtained an order restricting the account and that a subsequent Federal High Court order concerning the funds was made on June 29, 2026.

The company later challenged that order.

According to Kudiwave, Justice Ibrahim Ahmad Kala of the Federal High Court on July 22 set aside the June 29 order and directed that restrictions on the account be removed.

Kudiwave further said PalmPay, in a letter dated July 28, notified the SFU of the July 22 ruling and requested the return of ₦750,369,439.04 from the Police Recovery Account to Kudiwave’s PalmPay account.

PalmPay’s position has been different.

The fintech company has maintained that the transfer of ₦750,369,439.04 on July 15 was carried out pursuant to a Federal High Court order made on June 29 in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/795/2026, involving the Inspector-General of Police, PalmPay and Kudiwave. PalmPay said the order directed it to disclose the funds in Kudiwave’s account and transfer them to a designated Police Recovery Account.

PalmPay has also maintained that the June 29 order remained valid when the transfer was executed and that it did not independently initiate or benefit from the movement of the funds.

Kudiwave, however, has questioned the circumstances surrounding the transfer, particularly whether the transaction was carried out consistently with the court’s directives after the company had challenged the June 29 order.

The company’s counsel, Prince Kalu, said Kudiwave wanted investigators to trace the individual transactions rather than treat the entire amount as proceeds of an alleged fraudulent transaction.

“If you say N100m went to A, you cannot jump to C and say because the money is now in C, take the whole money in C. That is not how tracing of funds works,” Kalu said.

He also alleged that a former Commissioner of Police attached to the SFU collected the dollar equivalent of ₦5 millionfrom him and promised to lift a post-no-debit restriction on Kudiwave’s account.

That allegation has not been independently established.

Kalu further alleged that the disputed funds were moved on July 15, before the court delivered its July 22 ruling setting aside the June 29 order.

He questioned the destination of the money, alleging that it was not transferred to the specific Police Exhibit Account referenced in the June 29 order but to another account.

Kudiwave is therefore asking the IGP to order a forensic tracing of the funds, obtain the bank statements of the companies involved, investigate the circumstances surrounding the arrest and detention of its representatives and establish the legal basis for the continued withholding of the money.

“We are asking for an independent investigation because you cannot investigate without charging anybody and then become more interested in collecting the whole money in a company’s account,” Kalu said.

The dispute has also moved into separate court proceedings involving PalmPay.

PalmPay has approached the Lagos State High Court seeking an order restraining Kudiwave and persons acting on its behalf from issuing or circulating statements concerning the transfer of the ₦750,369,439.04.

The application, dated September 4, 2026, relates specifically to statements concerning PalmPay’s transfer of the funds from Kudiwave’s account to the designated Police Recovery Account.

The dispute therefore remains unresolved, with Kudiwave challenging the tracing of the funds and the circumstances of their transfer, while PalmPay maintains that it acted pursuant to a court order.