EFCC Arrests Ex-NNPCL Top Officials For Alleged $7.2bn Fraud

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested a former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Umar Isa, over alleged $7.2 billion fraud linked with the rehabilitation of the Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt refineries.

Also arrested by the EFCC is Jimoh Olasunkanmi is a former Managing Director of Warri Refinery.

Channels Television reported that sources within the EFCC confirmed that Isa was picked up in Abuja following ongoing investigations into the controversial turnaround maintenance projects for the Kaduna, Warri, and Port Harcourt refineries.

Despite the refurbishments, both refineries had yet to fully function.

EFCC operatives were also said to be grilling other top former officials linked to the refineries’ failed maintenance projects. These include Tunde Bakare, current Managing Director of the Warri Refinery; Ahmed Dikko, a former MD of the Port Harcourt Refinery; and Ibrahim Onoja, another ex-MD of the same facility.

The EFCC investigation was focusing on alleged abuse of office, massive corruption, diversion of public funds, and kickbacks from contractors involved in the rehabilitation contracts.

Isa, as CFO, was responsible for the disbursement of funds for the turnaround maintenance projects—funds that now appear to have vanished without any tangible impact on the facilities’ operational status.

Attempts to reach the EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, for official comments were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.

Recall that the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Senator Aliyu Wadada, also raised concerns over financial irregularities in NNPCL’s books. Last week, the committee flagged what it described as “mind-boggling and worrisome discrepancies” in the company’s audited financial statements from 2017 to 2023.

“The issues we discovered in NNPCL’s accounts are beyond alarming. We are talking about trillions of naira with no clear explanation,” Senator Wadada said during a recent hearing.