The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has recovered more than N38.66 billion in cash and assets as it intensifies its investigation into the alleged diversion of funds meant for the rehabilitation of Nigeria’s government owned refineries.
The ongoing probe has placed several former and serving officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, alongside contractors involved in the projects, under investigation, with many expected to face criminal charges as the case progresses.
Findings obtained by Zoyols News show that the commission has recovered N9.4 billion in cash and 21.2 million dollars, valued at about N29.26 billion using the Central Bank of Nigeria’s official exchange rate of N1,380 to one dollar. Investigators have also traced and recovered several landed properties believed to be linked to some of the suspects.
The investigation is regarded as one of the largest corruption probes in Nigeria’s oil industry. It focuses on the management of approximately 2.79 billion dollars released between 2021 and 2023 for the rehabilitation and turnaround maintenance of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries.
According to investigators, the case involves allegations of criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, diversion of public funds, economic sabotage, abuse of office, money laundering and procurement fraud. Those under investigation include officials of the NNPCL, its subsidiary NNPC Engineering and Technical Company Limited, former and current managing directors of the three refineries and major contractors, including Daewoo Engineering Nigeria Limited and Tecnimont SPA.
The Federal Government had approved contracts worth about 2.79 billion dollars for the rehabilitation of the nation’s refineries. The Port Harcourt Refining Company received about 1.56 billion dollars, while Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company was allocated 740.7 million dollars. The Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company received approximately 492.3 million dollars.
Despite the huge financial investment, investigators said there was little evidence of meaningful improvement in refinery operations. This raised suspicions that a significant portion of the funds may have been diverted, mismanaged or fraudulently disbursed.
The findings have renewed concerns about repeated government efforts to restore the refineries, which have continued to operate far below their installed capacities despite years of public spending.
As part of the investigation, the EFCC last year arrested several senior NNPCL officials, including former Chief Financial Officer Umar Isa, Warri Refinery Managing Director Tunde Bakare and former Port Harcourt Refinery Managing Directors Ahmed Dikko and Ibrahim Onoja.
The commission has also questioned more than 30 senior officials of the NNPCL and over 50 representatives of contracting firms and subcontractors connected to the refinery rehabilitation projects.
Investigators reviewed procurement procedures, examined project implementation, analysed payment records, scrutinised bank transactions and obtained information from the Corporate Affairs Commission, the Central Bank of Nigeria and commercial banks. They also traced the ownership of companies linked to the contracts.
Sources familiar with the investigation disclosed that the EFCC uncovered widespread irregularities involving procurement processes, questionable payment approvals and alleged manipulation of contract awards by officials across different levels of management.
One aspect of the investigation centres on former Port Harcourt Refinery Managing Director Ahmed Dikko, who is accused of approving direct payments to contractors from provisional funds instead of following the contractual arrangement that required payments to pass through Tecnimont.
Investigators said they traced assets worth N983.9 million, 227,030 dollars and three landed properties to Dikko, which he allegedly failed to satisfactorily explain. An interim forfeiture order has reportedly been secured over the properties while prosecutors prepare criminal charges.
The investigation also established what officials described as a prima facie case against Jimoh Yisawu, a senior official associated with the rehabilitation of the Warri Refinery.
Yisawu is accused of approving payments to unqualified contractors, authorising inflated invoices and contract markups exceeding 10 million dollars and nearly N8 billion. He is also alleged to have approved payment vouchers without the required financial procedures, resulting in estimated losses of about 7.47 million dollars and N1.89 billion in tax revenue.
The commission said it traced more than N1.4 billion and four landed properties to Yisawu, assets investigators claimed he could not account for satisfactorily. The properties have also been placed under interim forfeiture pending prosecution.
Sources further disclosed that the recovered N9.4 billion and 21.2 million dollars have been paid into the EFCC recovery accounts. In addition, another 2.32 million dollars was recovered through the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
Investigators also uncovered a separate case involving alleged revenue fraud valued at 28.39 million dollars and N665 million linked to the management of the Port Harcourt Refining Company. Efforts to recover those funds are still ongoing.
The commission said the investigation has not been concluded, adding that additional recoveries, arrests and prosecutions are expected as more evidence emerges.
The latest developments have once again raised concerns over the effectiveness of Nigeria’s refinery rehabilitation programme despite the billions of dollars committed to the projects over the years.
Nigeria’s four state owned refineries, comprising the two Port Harcourt facilities with a combined capacity of 210,000 barrels per day, the Kaduna refinery with 110,000 barrels per day and the Warri refinery with 125,000 barrels per day, have a combined installed capacity of 445,000 barrels daily. However, they have remained largely inactive for decades despite repeated rehabilitation efforts.
The Warri Refinery briefly resumed operations in December 2024 but shut down about a month later because of safety concerns, while the Port Harcourt Refinery was taken offline in May 2025 for scheduled maintenance.
In October 2025, the NNPCL announced a comprehensive technical and commercial review of the three refineries as part of plans to improve their efficiency and profitability.
More recently, the company disclosed that it signed a memorandum of understanding with two Chinese firms, Sanjiang Chemical Company Limited and Xinganchen Fuzhou Industrial Park Operation and Management Company Limited, to support the completion, operation and possible expansion of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries.
Details of the agreement have not yet been made public, while attempts to obtain comments from the NNPCL and the officials named in the investigation were unsuccessful as of the time this report was filed.
