EFCC to Arraign Ex-Warri, PH Refinery MDs in N1.42bn, $989,630 Fraud Case

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has scheduled the arraignment of two former top executives of Nigeria's refineries. Jimoh Yisawu, who previously served as the Managing Director of Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company Ltd, is slated to appear in court on Friday. Similarly, Ahmed Dikko, the former Managing Director of Port Harcourt Refining Company Ltd, is expected to be arraigned on Wednesday. Both individuals face distinct money laundering charges involving significant sums, amounting to hundreds of millions of naira and hundreds of thousands of US dollars. According to judicial records, Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, is presiding over both cases.

Mr. Yisawu is confronted with eight counts of charges, which include accusations of converting sums totaling $789,950 and $122,600. Meanwhile, Mr. Dikko's case involves a dozen charges related to financial dealings that reportedly commenced in 2022. The first count against Yisawu alleges that from October 2023 to May 2025, he unlawfully converted $789,950 by indirect means, utilizing an individual identified as Samaila Bala.

One of the charges specifically states: “That you, Jimoh Olasunkanmi Yisawu, the former Managing Director of Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company Ltd, between October 2023 and May 2025 in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, indirectly converted the aggregate sum of $789,950 through Samaila Bala, which amount did not form part of your known lawful earnings as a former public officer with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (formerly Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation), when you knew that the said sum of $789,950 constituted proceeds of unlawful activity, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(b) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”

Count 2 further accuses Yisawu of making multiple cash disbursements to Samaila Bala, collectively totaling $789,950, which exceeded the statutory limit of N5,000,000 or its equivalent for cash transactions. These payments were allegedly conducted outside the formal banking system, an act the EFCC asserts is a violation of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

Moreover, the charges against Yisawu include allegations that he indirectly converted $122,600 between February 2024 and March 2025. This was reportedly facilitated via Rasheed Yusuf of Rasheedat Anike Global Ventures, with the transactions purportedly conducted in cash and circumventing financial institutions.

Another charge asserts: “That you Jimoh Yisawu, the former Managing Director of Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company Ltd, between January and June 2015 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, used the aggregate sum of N25,563,000 received into your Zenith Bank Plc Account No. 1003198602 and Access Bank Plc Account No. 0001283432 from Jkpeez Impex Co. (a contractor with subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation now Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd) when you reasonably ought to have known that the said sum constituted proceed of unlawful activity and you thereby committed an offence contrary to section 15(2)(d) and punishable under section 15(3) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended.”

Additional charges against Yisawu involve the transfer of N65,860,000 to Cordros Securities Limited for the acquisition of treasury bills under his name. He is also accused of retaining N15,000,000 and N3,000,000, which were deposited into his Stanbic IBTC account by Olasinka Fragene Justice, reportedly on behalf of Ebenco Global Link Limited, a firm identified as a contractor to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

Turning to Mr. Dikko, the EFCC has brought forward 12 counts of charges, with some accusations stemming from transactions as far back as 2022. Among these, it is alleged that in February 2024, Dikko “indirectly made a cash payment of the dollar equivalent of the sum of N218,375,000.00… to one Hadeija Bashir for the purchase of Plot 558, Abubakar Umar Street, Katampe Extension, Abuja,” deliberately bypassing a financial institution for the transfer of these funds.

Dikko further faces accusations of holding N100,000,000 and N90,000,000 in distinct bank accounts, funds allegedly received from Ebenco Global Link Limited, a contractor associated with PHRC. Additionally, he is alleged to have concealed the source of N90,000,000 by routing it through an Access Bank account “operated by Aisha Ahmed Dikko.”

Count 8 details that Dikko, in collaboration with Masterpiece Projects & Investment Limited, is believed to have disguised the origin of N328,710,337.50. This sum was reportedly paid into a GTBank account by OMSA Integrated Services Limited, purportedly originating “from the transactions involving NNPC Limited allocation of Vacuum Gas Oil for export.”

Additional charges against Dikko include the alleged possession of N59,200,000, which passed through Masterpiece Projects & Investment Limited. He is also accused of orchestrating Ebenezar Oluwagbemiga of Ebenco Global Link Limited to take possession of N356,412,500 on his behalf. Furthermore, Dikko allegedly converted $77,080 through Ibrahim Isa Yaro and used his son’s GTBank account to control N20,000,000 from Ebenco Global Link Limited.

The EFCC asserts that all these alleged infractions are in violation of multiple sections of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and the amended Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011.