About N80bn has been found in the account of one of the sacked managing directors of the state-owned refineries, a senior EFCC source has revealed.
According to the source, the sacked MD had been with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), following the arrest of some top officials of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, and Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company by the commission.
“Large amounts have been discovered in his accounts. About N80bn has so far been discovered in his various accounts. The way things are going, it may be bigger than Emefielegate,” the official, who spoke in confidence due to the nature of the probe, stated.
Another source disclosed that the arrests of the top officials were part of an ongoing investigation into the billions of dollars released for the quick-fix maintenance of the three state-owned refineries.
“We are investigating the money that was released for the rehabilitation of all three refineries—money disbursed in recent times. All the principal officers within that time frame are being invited.
“Some have been arrested already, and we are still on the lookout for others. Nigerians are interested in seeing our refineries work. We are asking: where is the money, and what has happened to the refineries?” the official said.
The source added that the investigation was far-reaching, covering all key actors involved in the management of the refineries during the period in question.
The officials were arrested over alleged mismanagement of funds earmarked for the rehabilitation of the facilities. The total amount under investigation is $2,956,872,622.36.
The EFCC is probing the sum of $1,559,239,084.36 allocated to the Port Harcourt refinery, $740,669,600 released for the Kaduna refinery, and $656,963,938 approved for the Warri refinery.
The ex-Managing Directors are, Mr Ibrahim Onoja(Port Harcourt Refining Company Ltd), Efifia Chu(Managing Director of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company Ltd).
The EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, could not be reached as of the time of filing this report.
It would be recalled that the new NNPCL management fired the managing directors of the three refineries under its purview, recently.
Some other senior officials of the national oil firm were also asked to leave; among them was Bala Wunti, a former chief of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services, a subsidiary of the NNPCL.
The new management also asked many officials with one year to their various retirement dates to leave.
