Inside Nigeria’s $7.2bn Refinery Scandal: EFCC Detains Top NNPC Executives

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested a former Chief Financial Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC), Umar Isa in connection with an alleged $7.2bn fraud linked to the rehabilitation of the Kaduna, Warri, and Port Harcourt refineries in one of Nigeria’s biggest oil sector fraud scandals.

The three refineries have underperformed and recorded zero production over the years despite annual allocation of turnaround maintenance to them.

Mr Isa, as CFO, was in charge of release of funds for the Turn Around Maintenance of the three refineries and has been detained by the agency along with a former Managing Director of Warri Refinery, Jimoh Olasunkanmi.

Sources say the three key officials and others involved in other NNPC projects are being investigated for alleged abuse of office, corruption, diversion of funds and kickbacks from contractors.

Other officials also facing probe are Tunde Bakare, Managing Director, Warri Refinery; Ahmed Adamu Dikko, former Managing Director, Port Harcourt Refinery, and Ibrahim Monday Onoja, former Managing Director, Port Harcourt Refinery.

These arrests come mere days after the Senate Committee on Public Accounts raised concerns about major discrepancies in the NNPC’s audited accounts from 2017 – 2023, describing them as “mind-boggling” and consequently issuing 11 financial queries to the NNPC finance team, demanding responses within a week.

This development marks a significant escalation in Nigeria’s fight against corruption in the petroleum sector and has raised fresh concerns over the long-standing lack of transparency in the state oil company’s financial operations.

Last month, EFCC launched an investigation into alleged abuse of office and misappropriation of funds involving several former NNPC executives, including the immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, and his predecessor, Abubakar Yar’Adua.

According to the report, a letter dated 28 April, addressed to the current NNPC management, revealed that the anti-graft agency is probing the disbursement of over $2.9 billion approved for the rehabilitation of Nigeria’s three state-owned refineries. The funds under investigation include $1.56 billion allocated to the Port Harcourt refinery, $740.6 million for Kaduna, and $656.9 million for Warri, which were released under a controversial rehabilitation scheme.

The letter requested certified salary and allowance records of 14 current and former senior executives, including Messrs Kyari, Yar’Adua, and former refinery managing directors Ibrahim Onoja (PHRC), Mustafa Sugungun (KRPC), and Efifia Chu (WRPC).

Several of the listed officials had either been sacked or retired, following a shake-up initiated by President Bola Tinubu, who also dissolved the NNPC board and appointed a new management team led by Bayo Ojulari as GCEO and Ahmadu Kida as board chair.

Despite the massive financial injection into the refineries, public records and site visits indicate that the facilities have largely failed to resume meaningful operations. The Warri refinery, which was reopened in December 2024, shut down in January due to safety issues, while the Port Harcourt refinery has operated below 42% of its installed capacity.

Industry experts, including Kelvin Emmanuel and Dan Kunle, have accused NNPC of misleading the public with staged recommissioning events and called the entire rehabilitation effort a “charade.” They criticised the use of alternative contractors instead of the refineries’ original builders and questioned the logic of investing in facilities lacking critical infrastructure like crude supply pipelines.

The situation has triggered concerns among petroleum marketers and labour groups. The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) expressed reservations about the refineries’ non-performance, while support staff members at the Warri refinery have threatened an indefinite strike over poor pay and working conditions.