In a sweeping anti-corruption crackdown, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested the recently sacked managing directors and several top officials of Nigeria’s three state-owned refineries over the alleged mismanagement of a staggering $2.96 billion allocated for the facilities’ rehabilitation.
The suspects include Mr Ibrahim Onoja, former Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, and Efifia Chu, his counterpart at the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company. The Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company is also at the centre of the investigation.
Sources within the EFCC disclosed that the probe covers $1.56 billion allocated to the Port Harcourt refinery, $740.67 million for Kaduna, and $656.96 million for Warri. One of the arrested ex-MDs has reportedly had over ₦80 billion traced to personal accounts, raising further concerns about the scale of corruption.
According to top management insiders at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the arrests are part of a far-reaching investigation into the failed rehabilitation of the refineries, which resumed operations only briefly in late 2024 before suffering shutdowns and poor output.
Despite much-publicised recommissionings, the Port Harcourt refinery has struggled to operate at even 40% capacity, while the Warri plant was shut down in January 2025, barely a month after resuming operations, due to safety issues in its Crude Distillation Unit.
Insiders say the probe may implicate more than the refinery heads. A document dated April 28, 2025 reveals that the investigation also extends to the immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, alongside 13 other former top officials. The EFCC has requested certified emolument records for all listed individuals from the national oil company.
The spokesperson for NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye, has not responded to repeated inquiries regarding the allegations, while public trust in the company continues to erode amid widespread disillusionment.
Experts and operators in the oil and gas sector have condemned what they described as a “charade” of refinery recommissionings, with one analyst, Kelvin Emmanuel, claiming that the refineries lacked the essential infrastructure to resume production and branding the entire rehabilitation process a “monumental scam.”
Despite a Federal Executive Council approval in 2021 for the $2.96 billion rehabilitation project, the refineries, Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna, have failed to deliver. Observers argue that the allocated funds could have built a new modular refinery rather than be wasted on ageing and dysfunctional plants.
Further complicating the situation, refinery workers have threatened to embark on an indefinite strike starting May 5, 2025, over casualisation and unpaid benefits, putting planned restarts of crude distillation and gas units at the Warri plant in jeopardy.
Meanwhile, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) have demanded a transparent investigation into the failed refinery turnarounds.
In a damning assessment, another energy expert, Dan Kunle, criticised the federal government for bypassing the original Japanese builders of the refineries due to insecurity concerns, accusing the NNPCL of wasting billions on cosmetic fixes and misleading media campaigns.
As investigations deepen, Nigerians are left questioning how billions of dollars earmarked for energy revitalisation may have instead funded what is shaping up to be one of the country’s largest oil sector scandals.
