The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned two former managing directors of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries over alleged money laundering linked to refinery rehabilitation funds.
The anti-graft agency filed charges against the immediate past Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), Ahmed Adamu Dikko, and former Managing Director of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), Jimoh Olasunkanmi Yisawu, over the alleged diversion and laundering of funds meant for refinery maintenance and rehabilitation.
Politics Nigeria reports that the cases were filed before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Dikko is facing a 12-count charge, while Yisawu is facing an eight-count charge.
The EFCC accused both former refinery chiefs of abusing their positions by allegedly receiving funds from contractors handling refinery rehabilitation projects, concealing suspicious payments, and carrying out large cash transactions outside financial institutions in breach of Nigeria’s anti-money laundering laws.
Investigators said the charges are part of a wider probe into billions of naira released for the turnaround maintenance of Nigeria’s struggling refineries.
The investigation has already led to major recoveries.
The EFCC recently recovered over N9.4 billion, $21.2 million, and several landed properties linked to the ongoing probe into refinery rehabilitation funds.
The commission believes the case is one of the biggest corruption investigations involving the country’s oil sector in recent years.
According to court documents, Dikko allegedly engaged in multiple suspicious transactions involving contractors working with PHRC.
One of the charges stated that in February 2024, he allegedly paid N218.375 million in cash for a property in Katampe Extension, Abuja, without routing the payment through a financial institution.
The EFCC said the transaction violated provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Prosecutors also accused him of retaining large sums allegedly received from contractors linked to refinery projects.
These include N100 million, N90 million, another N90 million routed through a third party, and several other payments running into hundreds of millions of naira.
The anti-graft agency further alleged that Dikko concealed the source of N328.71 million connected to transactions involving NNPC’s allocation of Vacuum Gas Oil for export.
He was also accused of receiving funds through proxies and converting $77,080 through another individual.
The EFCC said the funds could not be traced to his legitimate earnings as a public officer.
In a separate case, former WRPC Managing Director Jimoh Yisawu was accused of laundering large sums through third parties and making cash payments above legal limits.
According to the EFCC, Yisawu allegedly converted $789,950 through one associate between October 2023 and May 2025.
The commission said the funds were not linked to his lawful income.
He was also accused of converting an additional $122,600 through another individual.
Prosecutors further alleged that he retained millions of naira paid by contractors and transferred N65.86 million for treasury bill purchases.
The EFCC said the transactions breached both the Money Laundering Act, 2011, and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries have remained largely non-functional despite repeated government spending on rehabilitation.
The refineries, located in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna, have a combined installed capacity of 445,000 barrels per day.
However, years of heavy investment have yielded little improvement in domestic refining output.
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