• CFO is mere Treasurer….Arrest Mele Kyari, Not CFO, Says NNPCL Insiders
By Abiola Olawale
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has reportedly arrested some former top officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
Reports indicate that the arrest of these key figures is linked to an alleged $7.2 billion refinery rehabilitation projects at the nation’s refineries in Kaduna, Warri, and Port Harcourt.
According to reports emerging on Tuesday, the EFCC made the arrests in pursuit of accountability in one of Nigeria’s oil sector.
One of those that was reportedly arrested is Umar Ajiya Isa, the immediate past Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of NNPCL. Sources at NNPCL, however, said that going by the structure and system in place at the organization, Isa, as a CFO is like a treasurer who pays or merely releases funds upon receipt of subdisting directives from the Board, GCEO or substantive minister of Petroleum.
” The CFO is just like a cashier or treasurer who pays upon receipt of directive. He doesnt award projects. So why arrest him? Mele Kyari as the GCEO should be the one to answer not a treasurer”, a source at NNPCL said.
Also arrested is Jimoh Olasunkanmi, former Managing Director of Warri Refinery. He is also reportedly in custody, facing scrutiny for his role in alleged financial mismanagement.
Sources within the EFCC reveal that the probe targets a staggering $2.96 billion disbursed across the three refineries: $1.56 billion for Port Harcourt, $740.6 million for Kaduna, and $656.9 million for Warri, respectively.
These funds, were intended to revive Nigeria’s ageing and long-dormant refineries. But industry people have raised questions about the workability of the refineries after injecting these huge funds.
Other officials said to be on the EFCC’s radar are the Managing Director of the Warri Refinery, Tunde Bakare; a former Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refinery, Ahmed Dikko; and a former Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refinery, Ibrahim Onoja.
This comes after the administration of Mele Kyari as the NNPCL group chief executive officer came under scrutiny.
Last week, the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Aliyu Wadada, raised the alarm over discrepancies involving trillions of naira in the audited financial statements of the NNPCL, describing the revelations as mind-boggling and worrisome.
The committee raised the concerns from the analysis of NNPCL’s audited financial statements from 2017 to 2023.
Recall also that President Bola Tinubu sacked Kyari and all the Board members of the NNPCL April 2, 2025.
In the statement announcing the sack, the President said it was “crucial for enhancing operational efficiency, restoring investor confidence, boosting local content, driving economic growth, and advancing gas commercialisation and diversification”.
