By Emmanuel Onyedika
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has announced that it has recovered more than ₦38.66 billion in cash and assets in connection with its ongoing investigation into alleged diversion of funds earmarked for the repair and upgrade of Nigeria’s government-owned refineries. The probe, described by officials as one of the broadest corruption cases in the country’s oil industry, is expected to lead to criminal charges against several current and former officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) as well as contractors.
So far, the EFCC has retrieved ₦9.4 billion and $21.2 million (about ₦29.26 billion at the Central Bank’s official exchange rate of ₦1,380 per dollar). In addition, investigators seized multiple landed properties allegedly linked to individuals under investigation.
The case focuses on about $2.79 billion disbursed between 2021 and 2023 for turnaround maintenance of the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries. Contracts worth $1.56 billion were awarded for Port Harcourt, $740.7 million for Kaduna, and $492.3 million for Warri. Despite this massive spending, investigators say there is little evidence of improved refinery performance, fuelling suspicions that large sums were diverted, misused, or paid out fraudulently.
The EFCC is probing allegations of criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, misappropriation of public funds, economic sabotage, abuse of office, money laundering, and procurement fraud. Those under scrutiny include NNPCL officials, staff of its engineering arm, former and current refinery heads, and major contractors such as Daewoo Engineering Nigeria Limited and Tecnimont SPA.
Last year, the commission detained several senior NNPCL officials, including former Chief Financial Officer Umar Isa, Warri Refinery Managing Director Tunde Bakare, and ex-Port Harcourt Refinery Managing Directors Ahmed Dikko and Ibrahim Onoja. Over 30 senior NNPCL staff and more than 50 officials from contracting and subcontracting firms have been questioned. Investigators reviewed procurement processes, project execution, payment records, and bank accounts, while also requesting data from the Corporate Affairs Commission, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and commercial banks to trace companies tied to the contracts.
Sources familiar with the investigation said the EFCC uncovered widespread breaches of procurement rules, dubious payment approvals, and manipulation of contract procedures allegedly aided by officials at different management levels.
The probe specifically accused ex-Port Harcourt Refinery MD Ahmed Dikko of approving direct payments to contractors from provisional funds, bypassing rules that required such payments to go through Tecnimont. Investigators traced assets worth ₦983.9 million, $227,030, and three properties to him, which he allegedly could not account for. An interim forfeiture order has been secured on the properties, and prosecutors are drafting charges.
Similarly, a prima facie case was established against Jimoh Yisawu, a senior official connected to Warri Refinery rehabilitation. He is accused of approving payments to unqualified third-party firms, authorizing inflated invoices and contract mark-ups above $10 million and nearly ₦8 billion, and signing off payment vouchers without proper cash-back arrangements. This allegedly caused losses of about $7.47 million and ₦1.89 billion in tax revenue. The EFCC traced over ₦1.4 billion and four properties to Yisawu, which are now under interim forfeiture pending trial.
Officials confirmed that the ₦9.4 billion and $21.2 million recovered have been deposited into EFCC recovery accounts, while an additional $2.32 million was recovered through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). Investigators also uncovered a separate revenue fraud case involving $28.39 million and ₦665 million linked to Port Harcourt Refining Company management, with efforts to recover those funds ongoing.
Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries, two in Port Harcourt, plus Kaduna and Warri, have a combined capacity of 445,000 barrels per day but have remained largely non-operational for decades despite repeated repair efforts. Warri Refinery briefly resumed operations in December 2024 but shut down a month later over safety issues. Port Harcourt Refinery was taken offline in May 2025 for scheduled maintenance. In October 2025, NNPCL announced a full technical and commercial review of the three refineries to boost efficiency and profitability.
More recently, NNPCL signed a Memorandum of Understanding with two Chinese companies, Sanjiang Chemical Company Limited and Xinganchen (Fuzhou) Industrial Park Operation and Management Co., Ltd., to help complete, operate, and possibly expand Port Harcourt and Warri refineries. Details of the deal have not yet been disclosed.
The EFCC says the investigation is ongoing, with more recoveries, arrests, and prosecutions expected as new evidence emerges. The revelations have renewed scrutiny of Nigeria’s refinery rehabilitation programme, raising fresh doubts about whether billions of dollars spent over the years have delivered any meaningful results.