The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has placed former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, on its watchlist over an ongoing probe into the controversial $7.2 billion refineries’ turnaround maintenance.
A Federal High Court in Abuja also granted an interim order freezing four bank accounts linked to Kyari following an application by the EFCC to preserve funds pending the conclusion of investigations.
Sources confirmed that the commission is probing alleged mismanagement and diversion of multi-billion-dollar funds earmarked for the rehabilitation of Nigeria’s refineries, projects that gulped huge sums without tangible results over the years.
The investigation has already led to the interrogation of several former NNPCL officials, including the company’s ex-Chief Financial Officer, Umar Ajiya Isa, and a former Managing Director of one of the refineries. EFCC operatives have reportedly recovered key documents and secured cooperation from some insiders as part of the probe.
Daily Trust earlier reported that the anti-graft agency has intensified efforts to unravel the spending pattern on the controversial refinery maintenance contracts, which successive administrations claimed would revive Nigeria’s moribund refineries but failed to deliver results despite enormous expenditure.
Kyari, who served as NNPCL boss until his replacement earlier this year, is now under close watch as EFCC seeks to ensure he does not evade the ongoing process.
The development marks one of the most high-profile anti-corruption probes in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector in recent years and is expected to set the tone for deeper scrutiny of the state-owned oil company’s past management practices.