EFCC arrests former NNPCL CFO over $7.2bn refinery fraud allegation

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested a former Chief Financial Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Umar Isa, over an alleged $7.2 billion fraud involving the rehabilitation of the nation’s three major refineries in Warri, Kaduna, and Port Harcourt.

Also arrested was Jimoh Olasunkanmi, a former Managing Director of the Warri Refinery.

According to reports, sources revealed that the EFCC is investigating Isa and other key NNPCL officials for corruption, abuse of office, diversion of public funds, and receiving kickbacks from contractors.

Isa, who oversaw the release of funds for the turnaround maintenance of the refineries, is at the centre of the EFCC’s ongoing investigation, which is probing the financial management of NNPCL’s major projects.

Among those under scrutiny are Tunde Bakare, current Managing Director of Warri Refinery; Ahmed Dikko and Ibrahim Onoja, both former Managing Directors of Port Harcourt Refinery.

Efforts to obtain a comment from EFCC’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.

The arrests come in the wake of a damning revelation by the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Senator Aliyu Wadada, which last week raised alarm over discrepancies amounting to trillions of naira in NNPCL’s audited financial records spanning 2017 to 2023.

“The committee found these revelations mind-boggling and deeply worrisome,” Senator Wadada said during a recent hearing.

The Senate has issued 11 financial queries to the NNPCL 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.