BREAKING: EFCC arrests the recently sacked managing directors and some top officials of the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries, discovering 80 billion in the account of one of the sacked MDs.
The officials were arrested over alleged mismanagement of funds earmarked for the rehabilitation of the refineries. The total amount under investigation is $2.9 billion
Findings by the PUNCH showed that the EFCC is probing the sum of $1.5 billion allocated to the Port Harcourt refinery, $740 million released for the Kaduna refinery, and $656 million approved for the Warri refinery.
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.
Impeccable top management sources at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited also revealed that N80bn was found in the account of one of the sacked MDs.
On Friday, a senior EFCC source, who spoke with the PUNCH on the condition of anonymity due to the lack of authorisation to speak on the matter, revealed that the arrests of the three ex-MDs and top officials were part of an ongoing investigation into the billions of dollars released for the quick-fix maintenance of the three state-owned refineries.
“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.
“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 official said.
A document obtained by the PUNCH on Friday from NNPCL, dated April 28, 2025, and titled, ‘Investigation Activities: Request for Information’, indicated that the probe by EFCC included the immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer of the national oil firm, Mele Kyari.
The EFCC document contained the names of 13 other former senior executives of the NNPCL under probe for misappropriation of funds.