The recently fired managing directors and a few high-ranking officials of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, and Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company were arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on suspicion of misusing funds intended for facility rehabilitation.
The total amount under investigation is $2,956,872,622.36. The findings indicated that the EFCC is looking into the amounts of $1,559,239,084.36 allotted to the Port Harcourt refinery, $740,669,600 released for the Kaduna refinery, and $656,963,938 authorised for the Warri refinery.
Efifia Chu was the former managing director of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company Ltd., and Mr. Ibrahim Onoja was the former managing director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company Ltd.
This occurred when reliable senior management sources at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited disclosed that one of the fired MDs had N80 billion in his account.
Additionally, after the refineries’ weak output after they resumed operations in November and December 2024, operators and industry analysts criticised NNPCL for misleading Nigerians about the functioning of the facilities, especially the Port Harcourt and Warri plants.
Dashed hope
For Nigerians, NNPCL oversees the three refineries that had been idle for decades. The Port Harcourt and Warri refineries reopened in November and December 2024, respectively, but the Warri refinery was shut down again for safety reasons less than a month after it reopened.
The Port Harcourt refinery, on the other hand, has been running at less than 40% of its capacity since its much-heralded overhaul.
A report exclusively revealed on Tuesday that the new NNPCL management dismissed the managing directors of the three refineries under its control.
Some other senior officials of the national oil firm were also asked to leave; among them was Bala Wunti, a former chief of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services, a subsidiary of the NNPCL.
The new management also asked many officials with one year to their various retirement dates to leave.
Arrest of suspects
The arrests of the three former 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, according to a senior EFCC source who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak on the subject.
“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.
The EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, was unavailable at the time this report was filed. The source also stated that the investigation was extensive, encompassing all significant players involved in the management of the refineries during the relevant time.
Previously, sources at the NNPCL said that one of the fired MDs had worked for the EFCC for roughly a week.
“Large amounts have been discovered in his accounts. About N80bn has so far been discovered in his various accounts. The way things are going, it may be bigger than Emefielegate,” the official, who spoke in confidence due to the nature of the probe, stated.
Another official stated, “All the three of them are being investigated by the EFCC. It is indeed sad!”
Kyari under probe
According to a document our correspondent obtained from NNPCL on Friday, titled “Investigation Activities: Request for Information,” dated April 28, 2025, the EFCC’s investigation involved Mele Kyari, the national oil firm’s immediate former Group Chief Executive Officer.
The document was addressed to the Group Managing Director (Group Chief Executive Officer) of the national oil company and included the names of 13 other former senior executives of the NNPCL.
“The commission is investigating a case of abuse of office and misappropriation of funds in which the underlisted officials of your organisation featured,” the document stated.
Abubakar Yar’Adua, Mele Kyari, Isiaka Abdulrazak, Umar Ajiya, Dikko Ahmed, Ibrahim Onoja, Ademoye Jelili, and Mustapha Sugungun were among the officials listed.
Others include Bello Kankaya, Jimoh Olasunkanmi, Babatunde Bakare, Efiok Akpan, Kayode Adetokunbo, and Desmond Inyama.
“In view of the above, you are kindly requested to furnish certified true copies of their emoluments and allowances, including that of those who have retired and no longer work with your organisation,” the anti-graft commission told the NNPCL boss.
The spokesperson for the NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye, has remained mute over allegations against top officials of the company, as he ignored repeated enquiries on the matter.
Lies uncovered
Although the corporation has previously pretended that its activities were effective, residents have pointed out that the lack of transparency not only increases public mistrust but also feeds rumours about the company’s real motivations and the condition of Nigeria’s oil infrastructure.
According to an exclusive report on Tuesday, the NNPCL faced criticism when the $897 million Warri refinery renovation failed.
The recently renovated Port Harcourt refinery, which cost $1.5 billion, has been operating at less than 37.87 percent of its capacity, according to the study.
This came when it was discovered that the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company had been closed since January 25, 2025, because of a safety problem with the primary heater of its crude distillation unit.
The 125,000 barrels per day capacity Warri refinery, which had been dormant for decades due to technical issues, was revived by the national oil company on December 30, 2024.
According to an April 2025 document on the Midstream and Downstream sector obtained from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, the refinery failed to produce Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) and was shut down barely a month after former NNPCL boss, Kyari, declared it operational.
An investigation on January 5, 2025, revealed that skeletal activities were ongoing at the WRPC in comparison to the refinery’s heyday when the company was operating at full capacity..
The Warri refinery
The WRPC, which is run by the NNPC and was set up to serve the markets in southern and southwestern Nigeria, is a petrochemical plant located in Warri’s Ekpan, Uwvie, and Ubeji areas.
It was commissioned in 1978 and was designed to produce and store essential products like Straight Run Kerosene, Automotive Gas Oil (diesel), and heavy and light naphtha.
President Bola Tinubu had praised the NNPCL for finishing the refurbishment of the 125,000-bpd capacity Warri refinery, which reportedly started.
At a widely reported ceremony one month prior, the national oil corporation stated that the 60,000 barrels per day old Port Harcourt refinery will be revitalised.
After years of dormancy and seven postponements—the most recent of which occurred in September 2024—the $1.5 billion rehabilitation project, which was financed by a loan facility supported by international financial institutions, was supposed to bring the state-owned facility back to full operational status. Its original goal was set for December 2023.
However, a visit to the refinery a few days after the commotion revealed no activity there. Our correspondent was informed by a few employees that the plant was undergoing calibration. This was also refuted by the corporation.
The NNPCL spokesperson, Soneye, had said that the refinery recommissioned on November 26, 2024, was operating at 70 per cent of its installed capacity, with plans to increase output to 90 per cent in subsequent months.
At its recommissioning, the state-owned firm stated that the Port Harcourt refinery would produce daily outputs of 1.4 million litres of Straight-Run Gasoline blended into Premium Motor Spirit, 900,000 litres of Kerosene, 1.5 million litres of Automotive Gas Oil, 2.1 million litres of Low Pour Fuel Oil, and additional volumes of Liquefied Petroleum Gas.
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The new NMDPRA document highlighting the refinery’s true state, however, linked the shutdown of WRPC to critical faults in the refinery’s Crude Distillation Unit Main Heater.
“The Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company was shut down on 25th Jan. 2025 due to safety concerns over the CDU Main Heater,” the document stated.
The PHRC facility, on its part, did not exceed 42.23 per cent of its operational capacity within the six months.
At another visit on Friday to the Warri refinery, it was seen that some members of staff who were seen around the premises declined to comment on the situation at the refinery.
Non-staff members were denied access to the complex, as security operatives at the main gate insisted they were working on instructions.
Marketers contacted also lamented they had been unable to lift petroleum products at the refinery.
Our correspondent did not see fuel-laden trucks either coming in or going out of the refinery during the visit.
FG deceiving Nigerians – Expert
An energy expert, Kelvin Emmanuel, said the Warri, Port Harcourt, and Kaduna refineries were never truly set to resume operations.
Speaking on Arise News, Emmanuel described the televised commissioning as a “charade,” accusing the government of staging the event to mislead the public.
He said, “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.
“On August 12, 2021, the Federal Executive Council approved memos for monies worth $2.96bn to be raised for the turnaround maintenance of the three refineries.
“This money can build a brand new 60,000-barrel refinery. The last of these refineries was completed in 1989 by Shell. So these refineries were built as very sizable modular refineries to power the operations of operators off-stream.
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“So they were not built to refine. The PHRC and WRPC don’t have a catalytic reform unit that can convert Naphtha to PMS.
“The 46km pipeline that was designed to supply feedstock from Escravos to Warri is out of service. So, how are you carrying crude oil to the refinery?
“One of the proofs that the NNPCL was deceiving Nigerians that it was refining is that most of our products are supplied from Lagos.
“We have a situation where $2.96bn was approved by the FEC, but there is nothing to show for it. So, if you claim that your refineries are operational, it is supposed to deliver up to 7 million litres. If you check the balance sheet of the company, the refineries are a loss-making business.”
Staff threaten strike
Meanwhile, plans to restart a section of Nigeria’s 125,000b/d Warri refinery are at risk due to an indefinite strike planned by plant support staff scheduled to begin on Monday, May 5, 2025. The strike is in protest against casualisation, low pay, and lack of benefits.
A new report by Argus Media said the state-owned company had planned to restart the crude and vacuum distillation units (CDU and VDU) and a gas plant in the first week of May. But the support staff have timed their strike to disrupt these plans.
Support staff representative, Dafe Ighomitedo, said the striking workers had been protesting their employment terms since 2015.
“A previous strike called in April 2022 would have delayed the start of the quick-fix programme, but it was called off following appeals from community leaders and a promise from refinery management to address the workers’ demands if they supported the programme,” Ighomitedo said.
“Workers were promised an improved salary structure upon the refinery’s restart, but that promise has not been fulfilled,” he added.
IPMAN worried, PETROAN demands probe
The Delta State Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Harry Okenini expressed worry over the non-production of petrol at the Warri refinery, months after the announced completion of its rehabilitation.
The IPMAN boss said, “Since the inauguration of the rehabilitated Warri refinery on January 5, 2025, there has been no green light for IPMAN to lift petroleum products from the facility.
“For the past months, there has been no product for marketers here, and we cannot just stay idle, so we decided to source products from the private depots.
“These private depot owners, today they will increase the price; tomorrow they will increase it again. So, the whole thing has caused problems for the business.”
He appealed to the Federal Government to give the newly-appointed board of the NNPCL a free hand to work.
Also, the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria called for an investigation into the condition of the refineries.
Challenged by one of our correspondents to defend its earlier claims that the refineries were supplying fuel to its members, PETROAN National President, Billy Gillis-Harry, said the refineries were working at the time he and his team visited the sites.
He said, “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. We are not the contractors; we are not the ones who maintain them.
“So, we went home with the fact that we saw the refineries working and the furnaces were lighting up. But if today they are not working, then, of course, PETROAN probably needs to revisit and check what happened and what didn’t happen, which we are going to do.
“Since this news came out, I have had meetings with NMDPRA and a few other critical leaders in the industry.
“For us, we want to encourage the system to be very efficient. But if what has been done is not good enough, of course, you can see that punishment is being meted out to those who managed it. So, we hope that things will become much better.”
An energy expert, Dan Kunle, described the much-celebrated renovation as a scandal.
Giving insights, Kunle said the Federal Government failed to convince the original builders of the refinery from Japan to come for its renovation, as the country’s government warned against insecurity.
He said another contractor was employed to fix these refineries at a high cost with nothing to show for it yet.
He said the government was only wasting money on renovating the refineries, saying the Kaduna refinery has no pipelines to supply it with crude oil.
“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? And the same Japanese company is in NLNG doing contracts.
“Kaduna refinery has no pipe to feed it. Even if you fix the Kaduna refinery with the $800m or $750m, how will crude get there? So why will you put the rehabilitation of that place on course and abandon the crude pipeline from Escravo to Warri, to Auchi, to Lokoja, to Suleja?
“The crude pipeline was built in the late 70s. Today, you cannot pressurise crude from Escravo to that place.
“All these three refineries, we are wasting money rehabilitating them,” Kunle stated.
He accused Kyari of launching media propaganda with public funds to deceive Nigerians that the refineries were working.
