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 tied to the rehabilitation of the Kaduna, Warri, and Port Harcourt refineries.
Also in EFCC custody is Jimoh Olasunkanmi, a former Managing Director of the Warri Refinery. The anti-graft agency is currently investigating several other senior officials for alleged corruption, abuse of office, diversion of public funds, and receipt of kickbacks from contractors involved in refinery maintenance and other NNPCL projects.
Among those under investigation are the current Managing Director of the Warri Refinery, Tunde Bakare; former Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refinery, Ahmed Dikko; and another former MD of the same refinery, Ibrahim Onoja.
The arrests come on the heels of a revelation by the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Senator Aliyu Wadada, which last week flagged discrepancies involving trillions of naira in NNPCL’s audited financial statements, describing the findings as “mind-boggling and worrisome.”
