N80bn found in sacked MD’s bank accounts as EFCC Investigates shady oil scam
By Samuel Ogunsona
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested the recently sacked Managing Directors and top officials of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, and Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company over alleged mismanagement of funds meant for the rehabilitation of the facilities.
The total amount under investigation is $3b
According to findings, the EFCC is probing the sum of $1,559,239,084.36 allocated to the Port Harcourt refinery, $740,669,600 released for the Kaduna refinery, and $656,963,938 approved for the Warri refinery, Irohinoodua was informed at the weekend.
The ex-Managing Director of Port Harcourt Refining Company Ltd is Mr. Ibrahim Onoja, while Efifia Chu served as the ex-Managing Director of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company Ltd.
Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited officials said N80bn was found in the account of one of the sacked MDs.
Operators and experts in the sector have also lambasted NNPCL for deceiving Nigerians regarding the operations of the refineries, particularly the Port Harcourt and Warri plants, following the poor output from the facilities since their resumption of operations.
“We are investigating the money that was released for the rehabilitation of all three refineries—money disbursed in recent times. All the principal officers within that time frame are being invited,” a senior EFCC source said.
“Some have been arrested already, and we are still on the lookout for others. Nigerians are interested in seeing our refineries work. We are asking: where is the money, and what has happened to the refineries?”
The EFCC investigation has also implicated the immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari. A document obtained from NNPCL indicated that the probe by EFCC included Kyari and 13 other former senior executives of the company.
The spokesperson for NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye, has remained silent on the allegations against top officials of the company. Industry experts have described the refinery renovation as a scandal, questioning the huge sums spent on the projects with little to show for it.
“The Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company was shut down on 25th Jan. 2025 due to safety concerns over the CDU Main Heater,” a document from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority stated.
An energy expert, Kelvin Emmanuel, said the refineries were never truly set to resume operations.
“For months, I had said that Warri, Port-Harcourt, and Kaduna were never going to come back into operation and that what Nigerians saw on television as the commissioning was just a charade.”
The Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria has called for an investigation into the condition of the refineries.
“We had very clear knowledge because we had a technical team with us, and the evaluation showed that there was hope for these refineries to work,” PETROAN National President, Billy Gillis-Harry, said.
Another energy expert, Dan Kunle, described the renovation as a scandal, saying the Federal Government failed to convince the original builders of the refinery from Japan to come for its renovation.
“Why did we avoid Japan? Why did we go around when a sovereign authority like Nigeria could not convince Japan to come and fix the refinery?” Kunle asked.
