The immediate past Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari has left the office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC after he was interrogated over refinery mantainace and contract related issues during his time in office.
Sources close to the EFCC say kyari is excepted to report to the EFCC’s headquarters occasionally for further questioning as investigations into his involvement in the financial activities of the NNPCL continue.
Kyari, who was appointed GMD of the NNPC in 2019 and later became the first Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL following its transition into a limited liability company in 2021, has faced scrutiny over billions of naira reportedly spent on the turnaround maintenance of Nigeria’s four refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna.
The EFCC is currently probing a total of 1.55 billion dollars allocated to the Port Harcourt refinery, 740.6 million dollars released for the Kaduna refinery, and 656.9 million dollars approved for the Warri refinery.
In August, the EFCC secured a court order freezing four bank accounts linked to Kyari.
The anti-graft agency said preliminary findings revealed that the accounts—domiciled in Jaiz Bank—were used to warehouse over N661m, suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
The EFCC revealed that fraudulent practices, including over-invoicing, contract inflation and questionable payments, were largely responsible for the failure of the refineries to operate effectively as it explained that former management teams of the three refineries have also been interrogated and charges were being prepared against some officials of the NNPCL linked to contracts.
Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries have been largely dormant for decades despite repeated rehabilitation efforts. Successive administrations have budgeted billions of dollars for turnaround maintenance, yet the facilities in Warri, Kaduna and Port Harcourt continue to underperform.
Editor : Ena Agbanoma
