EFCC Drags Ex-Warri, Port Harcourt Refinery MDs to Court Over Alleged $989,630, N1.42bn Money Laundering

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is set to arraign two former managing directors of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) and the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) over separate allegations of money laundering involving more than $989,630 and N1.42 billion.

The cases, filed before Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja, involve former WRPC Managing Director, Jimoh Yisawu, and former PHRC Managing Director, Ahmed Dikko.

Yisawu is expected to be arraigned on Friday on an eight-count charge, while Dikko is scheduled to appear before the court on Wednesday to answer a 12-count charge.

According to court documents, Yisawu is accused of laundering funds amounting to $789,950 and $122,600, allegedly converted through third parties between 2023 and 2025.

The EFCC alleged that the former refinery chief used one Samaila Bala to convert $789,950, funds investigators claim were proceeds of unlawful activities and beyond his legitimate earnings as a former official of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

The commission further alleged that the transactions were carried out through cash payments exceeding the legal threshold without passing through recognised financial institutions, contrary to the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

Investigators also accused Yisawu of laundering another $122,600 through Rasheed Yusuf of Rasheedat Anike Global Ventures between February 2024 and March 2025.

In another count, the EFCC alleged that between January and June 2015, Yisawu knowingly received N25.56 million into his Zenith Bank and Access Bank accounts from JKpeez Impex Company, described as a contractor to the then Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, now NNPCL.

The anti-graft agency also accused him of investing N65.86 million in treasury bills through Cordros Securities Limited and retaining additional sums of N15 million and N3 million allegedly paid by Ebenco Global Link Limited, another contractor linked to NNPCL.

Dikko, on the other hand, faces allegations involving transactions valued at about N1.42 billion, with the charges tracing the alleged offences to 2022.

Among the allegations is the claim that in February 2024, he arranged a cash payment equivalent to N218.38 million through one Hadeija Bashir for the purchase of a property located on Plot 558, Abubakar Umar Street, Katampe Extension, Abuja, without using any financial institution.

The EFCC further accused the former PHRC boss of retaining N100 million and N90 million allegedly received from Ebenco Global Link Limited, a contractor to the refinery, and concealing the source of the funds through an Access Bank account reportedly operated by Aisha Ahmed Dikko.

One of the charges also alleges that Dikko, in collaboration with Masterpiece Projects and Investment Limited, disguised the source of N328.71 million allegedly paid by OMSA Integrated Services Limited from transactions linked to NNPCL’s allocation of Vacuum Gas Oil for export.

The commission further alleged that he received N59.2 million from funds routed through Masterpiece Projects and Investment Limited, procured one Ebenezar Oluwagbemiga of Ebenco Global Link Limited to receive N356.41 million on his behalf, converted $77,080 through Ibrahim Isa Yaro, and used his son’s GTBank account to receive N20 million allegedly paid by Ebenco Global Link Limited.

The EFCC said the offences contravene various provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, as well as the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011, as amended.

Both former refinery executives are expected to enter their pleas when their respective trials commence before the Federal High Court in Abuja.