“Our investigation into the turnaround maintenance of the nation’s refineries … yielded major discoveries of large-scale fraud,” a senior source said.
LAGOS — The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has recovered over N5bn and $10m from contractors and government officials indicted in the fraud surrounding the turnaround maintenance of Nigeria’s refineries in Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri.
Sunday PUNCH gathered that the commission is also pursuing an additional N10bn and $13m allegedly siphoned through inflated contracts and questionable payments.
Sources confirmed that EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, personally took charge of the probe following his displeasure at the refineries’ non-functionality despite decades of huge public spending.
“Our investigation into the turnaround maintenance of the nation’s refineries … yielded major discoveries of large-scale fraud,” a senior source told Sunday PUNCH. “A total sum of $10m and N5bn have so far been recovered from suspects indicted in the fraud.”
The anti-graft agency is probing over $1.5bn allocated to the Port Harcourt refinery, $740m for Kaduna and $656m for Warri, with investigators alleging massive over-invoicing and contract inflation.
Some former and serving officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) are under investigation, with charges expected soon.
The EFCC is also probing fresh allegations of $40m contract inflation involving procurement of refinery equipment.