The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has confirmed that the arrested former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Umar Isa, and other top officials are still under investigation over an alleged $7.2 billion fraud linked to the rehabilitation of the Kaduna, Warri, and Port Harcourt refineries.
A source familiar with developments within the EFCC (who pleaded anonymity as the official was not authorized to speak) disclosed to Nairametrics on Tuesday that the investigation of the suspects is ongoing.
Aside from Isa, Jimoh Olasunkanmi, a former Managing Director of Warri Refinery, and others are said to be in the custody of the EFCC, as confirmed by the source.
The development comes days after the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Aliyu Wadada, raised the alarm concerning alleged discrepancies involving trillions of naira in the audited financial statements of the NNPCL.
The Committee described the revelations as mind-boggling and worrisome, underscoring that the concerns stem directly from the analysis of NNPCL’s audited financial statements from 2017 to 2023.
The committee immediately handed over a list of 11 queries to the NNPCL finance team with a one-week timeline for response.
EFCC Probe
- Our source confirmed to Nairametrics that the key officials involved in the maintenance of the refineries and other NNPCL key projects are under investigation regarding “alleged abuse of office, corruption, diversion of funds, and kickbacks from contractors.”
“The arrest of some of the ex-NNPCL officials is true.
“We are still investigating and there is no point preempting what the EFCC will do after the investigation,” the source added.
- The source further confirmed that “the Commission is still at the investigation stage”, and there may be no need to arraign some of the ex-NNPCL officials depending on the outcome of the EFCC investigation.
- Other officials named in the probe include the Managing Director of the Warri Refinery, Tunde Bakare; a former Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refinery, Ahmed Dikko; and a former Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refinery, Ibrahim Onoja.
EFCC’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, has yet to respond to Nairametrics’ enquiry as of press time.
Backstory
The development comes months after President Bola Tinubu approved the reconstitution of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) board, removing the chairman, Chief Pius Akinyelure, and the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari.
The restructuring affected all other board members appointed alongside Akinyelure and Kyari in November 2023.
According to the statement, “President Tinubu, invoking the powers granted under Section 59, subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, emphasized that the board’s restructuring is crucial for enhancing operational efficiency, restoring investor confidence, boosting local content, driving economic growth, and advancing gas commercialization and diversification.”
President Tinubu also handed out an immediate action plan to the new board: to conduct a strategic portfolio review of NNPC-operated and Joint Venture Assets to ensure alignment with value maximization objectives.
