Deborah Akinyosoye
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is questioning the former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, Mele Kyari, over alleged financial misconduct linked to a $7.2 billion refinery turnaround maintenance project.
Sources within the anti-graft agency said Kyari was currently at the EFCC headquarters, in Abuja, where he is being interviewed by investigators.
“He is here with our investigators at the moment. This is all I can disclose for now,” one of the sources said.
Kyari was reportedly invited to explain financial transactions worth billions of dollars during his time as head of the state-owned oil company.
Calls to the EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, were not answered at press time.
The development comes as investigations continue into alleged irregularities in the use of funds allocated to Nigeria’s refineries, which remain inactive despite repeated turnaround maintenance projects.
Kyari had earlier been placed on the EFCC’s watch list in connection with the controversial refinery programme.
In a related case, the Federal High Court in Abuja recently ordered the temporary freezing of four bank accounts linked to the former NNPCL chief, pending further investigations into alleged fraud.
Kyari, who served as GMD of the NNPCL from 2019 until his replacement in July 2024, oversaw reforms, including the transformation of the NNPC into a limited liability company.