Three ex-Managing Directors and senior officials of Nigeria’s three major state-owned refineries, Port Harcourt Refining Company, Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, and Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company, have been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The arrests of the officials was sequel to the alleged misappropriation of over $2.96 billion earmarked for refinery rehabilitation projects.
It was gathered that the arrested officials, former Port Harcourt Refining Company MD Ibrahim Onoja and Warri Refinery’s Efifia Chu, were being investigated for their roles in the alleged diversion and mismanagement of funds made available for the turnaround maintenance of the refineries
It would be recalled that in December 2024, the Warri Refining and Petrochemicals Company (WRPC), with a capacity of 125,000 barrels per day, was announced to have resumed production in Warri, Delta State, but was only producing Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) otherwise known as diesel and Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK).
“The Warri Refinery is far from turning out Premium Motor Spirit (otherwise known as petrol) which is believed to be the mostly demanded commodity as only one of the three plants in the facility is working,” it was reported.
It was learned that in December 7, the Conversion Units of the Port-Harcourt Refinery of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) which are responsible for high-value products such as jet fuel and gasoline were not functional, despite claims by the then NNPCL Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari that the facility was back and running.
According to industry experts, the conversion Units comprise of the catalytic crackers, hydrocrackers, or cokers and process the heavier fractions into higher-value products like gasoline, jet fuel, or diesel, top sources in the refinery had explained.
The Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) which is the primary component of the refinery is the only operational activity and Nigerians cannot yet get the actual values for which the Refinery was built.
However, EFCC operatives revealed that, a total of $1.56 billion was allocated to the Port Harcourt refinery, $740.7 million to the Kaduna refinery, and $657 million to the Warri refinery.
The investigators are probing the allegations after about N80 billion was traced to the personal accounts of one of the sacked suspected MDs.
“This probe spans all key actors involved during the period. Nigerians are asking: where is the money, and why are the refineries still not functioning?” NNPC
official very familiar with the arrest said.
EFCC operatives began investigating the MDs, after they were relieved of their duties with the appointment of new management at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), which manages the three refineries.
Last month April 2025, the new NNPCL leadership dismissed the refinery MDs and senior executives, including Bala Wunti, former chief of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services.
It was gathered that the on April 28, 2025, the EFCC, launched a formal probe into Mele Kyari, after writing an internal memo to the immediate past Group CEO of NNPCL, along with 13 other former top executives, requesting for financial records by the anti-graft agency.
According to the report; despite claims of recommissioning, the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries have underperformed or completely shut down since operations resumed in late 2024.
Also, the Warri refinery, with a 125,000 barrels per day capacity, shut down again in January 2025 due to a critical fault in its Crude Distillation Unit Main Heater.
And the Port Harcourt refinery, said to have cost $1.5 billion to rehabilitate, has operated below 40% of its capacity since November 2024.
A document from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority disclosed that Warri’s $897 million revamp yielded no Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), with activities at the plant largely stalled.
According to Marketers, no fuel lifting has taken place from Warri since its supposed revival.
