The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has recovered over ₦38.66 billion in cash and assets from an extensive corruption probe into the alleged diversion of $2.79 billion meant for rehabilitating Nigeria’s state-owned refineries.
The funds, released between 2021 and 2023, were earmarked for quick-fix repairs and turnaround maintenance of the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries.
So far, the anti-graft agency has secured ₦9.4 billion, $21.2 million (approximately ₦29.26 billion), and an additional $2.32 million through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), alongside several landed properties under interim forfeiture orders.
Investigators have uncovered widespread violations of procurement procedures, criminal breach of trust, money laundering, and economic sabotage involving more than 30 senior officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and 50 contracting personnel.
Despite the government’s massive financial commitments—including $1.56 billion for Port Harcourt, $740.7 million for Kaduna, and $492.3 million for Warri—the EFCC found little evidence of corresponding operational improvements.
Instead, findings suggest that substantial portions of the public funds were systematically diverted, misappropriated, or fraudulently disbursed through manipulated contract processes.
A prima facie case (evidence sufficient to establish a fact) has been established against several high-ranking figures, including former Port Harcourt Refinery Managing Director, Ahmed Dikko. Investigators accuse Dikko of breaching contractual protocols by bypassing major contractor Tecnimont SPA to approve direct payments from provisional funds.
The commission has already traced three landed properties and cash valued at ₦983.9 million and $227,030 to Dikko, which he allegedly failed to account for, prompting prosecutors to prepare formal criminal charges against him.
Similarly, the probe has implicated Jimoh Yisawu, a senior official linked to the Warri Refinery rehabilitation. Yisawu is accused of authorizing inflated invoices and contract mark-ups exceeding $10 million and ₦8 billion, while allegedly routing payments to unqualified third-party contractors without mandatory financial backings.
This misconduct reportedly resulted in estimated losses of $7.47 million and ₦1.89 billion in tax revenues. The EFCC has subsequently seized four landed properties and over ₦1.4 billion linked to Yisawu as part of its asset recovery drive.
This massive scandal intensifies scrutiny over Nigeria’s long-moribund refineries, which possess a combined capacity of 445,000 barrels per day but remain largely non-functional.
Recent revival attempts have faltered, with the Warri Refinery shutting down over safety concerns shortly after its December 2024 restart, and the Port Harcourt facility going offline in May 2025.
While the NNPCL has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Chinese firms for operational support and expansion, the EFCC has indicated that further arrests, asset recoveries, and prosecutions are imminent as the investigation continues.
