The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is set to arraign two former managing directors of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries over separate money laundering cases involving hundreds of millions of naira and hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The defendants, Jimoh Olasunkanmi Yisawu, former Managing Director of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), and Ahmed Dikko, former Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), will appear before Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday and Wednesday, respectively.
Court documents show that Yisawu is facing an eight-count charge, while Dikko is to answer a 12-count charge, with both cases centred on alleged violations of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act.
Allegations Against Yisawu
According to the charge sheet, the EFCC alleged that between October 2023 and May 2025, Yisawu indirectly converted a total of $789,950 through one Samaila Bala. The anti-graft agency claimed the funds were proceeds of unlawful activity and did not form part of his legitimate earnings as a former public officer with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
The commission further accused him of making multiple cash payments exceeding the legal threshold, amounting to the same $789,950, without passing through a financial institution, contrary to the provisions of the Money Laundering Act.
In another set of allegations, the EFCC said Yisawu between February 2024 and March 2025 converted an additional $122,600 through Rasheed Yusuf of Rasheedat Anike Global Ventures, allegedly using cash transactions conducted outside the banking system.
The commission also accused the former refinery boss of receiving N25.563 million between January and June 2015 into his Zenith Bank and Access Bank accounts from JKPEEZ Impex Co., a contractor linked to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, now NNPCL. Prosecutors alleged he ought to have known the funds were proceeds of unlawful activity.
Other charges allege that Yisawu transferred N65.86 million to Cordros Securities Limited to purchase treasury bills in his name and retained N15 million and N3 million allegedly paid into his Stanbic IBTC Bank account by Olasinka Fragene Justice on behalf of Ebenco Global Link Limited, a contractor to NNPCL.
Allegations Against Dikko
Ahmed Dikko is facing 12 counts bordering on alleged money laundering involving transactions traced to 2022 and beyond.
One of the charges alleges that in February 2024, he indirectly made a cash payment equivalent to N218.375 million to Hadeija Bashir for the purchase of Plot 558, Abubakar Umar Street, Katampe Extension, Abuja, without routing the funds through a financial institution.
The EFCC also alleged that Dikko retained N100 million and N90 million in separate bank accounts from funds paid by Ebenco Global Link Limited, a contractor to the Port Harcourt Refining Company. Investigators further accused him of disguising the origin of N90 million through an Access Bank account reportedly operated by Aisha Ahmed Dikko.
In another count, the commission alleged that Dikko, alongside Masterpiece Projects & Investment Limited, concealed the origin of N328.71 million paid into a Guaranty Trust Bank account by OMSA Integrated Services Limited from transactions involving NNPCL’s allocation of Vacuum Gas Oil for export.
The remaining counts accuse the former PHRC managing director of taking possession of N59.2 million through Masterpiece Projects & Investment Limited, procuring Ebenezar Oluwagbemiga of Ebenco Global Link Limited to receive N356.412 million on his behalf, converting $77,080 through Ibrahim Isa Yaro, and using his son’s Guaranty Trust Bank account to take control of N20 million allegedly paid by Ebenco Global Link Limited.
The two former refinery chiefs are expected to take their pleas before the Federal High Court in Abuja on the scheduled hearing dates.
Credit: Punch,
