The Economic and Financial Crimes panel (EFCC) has told Mele Kyari, the former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), to report to its Abuja headquarters every day as the panel gets ready to take him to court.
The Nation says that other former top NNPC officials and contractors are also likely to be charged by the panel.
On Wednesday, Kyari and other suspects were questioned by EFCC investigators about the more over $2.5 billion that was reportedly spent on fixing up the country’s four refineries.
Sijibomi Ogundele, the CEO of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited, is also being looked into by the commission. He will stay in its custody until the investigation into how he allegedly got more than N5 billion from the Enugu State Government for a contract he didn’t fulfill is over.
A magistrate court has given the Commission a remand order to that effect.
The Commission has already put limits on certain of Kyari’s accounts.
Sources stated yesterday that the detectives are looking at a lot of documents as part of the probe, which is why the former NNPC boss needs to be there every day to help clear up any confusion.
The sources couldn’t say when the EFCC would no longer need Kyari to be there every day. But they did say that all of the suspects might soon be taken to court.
One of the sources added, “The Commission has given Kyari bail with the condition that he report every day for questioning and interaction, as needed.”
“We have given him specific problems to deal with, papers to check, and contractors to either confirm or refute their assertions.
He claimed that they had questioned former MDs and GMs of the refineries, as well as certain former NNPC officials and contractors.
He added that questioning Kyari is the last step in the investigation.
“He is to fill in some gaps that will help us bring charges based on proof,” he said.
In response to a question, the source stated that unless new evidence or explanations come in at the last minute, the evidence gathered thus far suggests that Kyari may go to trial with certain former high-ranking NNPC officials.
The source went on to say, “They have to prove their innocence in court.”
It was reported that about $18 billion had been spent since 2010, yet the refineries are still in bad shape.
Kyari is responsible for the nearly $2.5 billion that was voted for turn-around maintenance (TAM) of the refineries while he was in charge. This includes giving $1.55 billion to the Port Harcourt refinery, $740.6 million to the Kaduna refinery, and $656.9 million to the Warri refinery.
At the time of writing, Kyari’s defense was not known, but he had indicated before that he had nothing to conceal.
NNPC has lost a lot of money on turn-around maintenance in the last three years, especially.
Daewoo Engineering and Construction Limited won a $497,328,500.00 Maintenance Services contract for Quick Fix Repairs at Warri Refinery from the Federal Executive Council on June 24, 2022.
The transaction was not the same as the one issued to Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited in 2017 for Tech Plant Survey of the Warri and Kaduna refineries for 2,025,000.32 Euros.
In the last ten years, the Kaduna refinery and Petro-Chemical Company (KRPC) have spent N2.266 billion on repairs.
In February 2023, the NNPCL agreed to a deal with Daewoo Engineering and Construction Limited to fix up the Kaduna refinery so that it could make 110,000 barrels of gasoline per day and be at least 60% full by early 2024.
Sujimoto’s employer won’t get a break right away.
The EFCC is seeking Ogundele to explain how he spent the N5.7 billion he is said to have received from the Enugu State Government for a contract he did not complete.
He is also being asked to give the money back.
There were signs yesterday that the EFCC would ask a judge to take the money from his and his company’s accounts.
Starting next week, he will meet with high-ranking officials from the Enugu State Government to talk about the state Ministry of Works and Infrastructure’s decision to give a contract for 22 Smart Green Schools.
A source in the EFCC stated that a magistrate court had given them permission to hold him until the anti-corruption agency could finish its probe.
He added that Ogundele is facing N5.7 billion in fraud charges from the government of Enugu State.
He claimed there is proof that Ogundele was paid the amount in question, and that the EFCC has the contract terms and the papers demonstrating that he didn’t follow through on his end of the deal.
He added that both Ogundele’s and Sujimoto’s personal accounts had been frozen.
“He hasn’t given in yet. He stated, “He needs to tell us how he spent the N5.7 billion or give it back.”
The source said that Ogundele’s accounts were stopped in case they ever needed to go to court to get the money back.
He stated that starting next week, the building contractor will work with high-ranking officials in the Enugu State government to give Sujimoto the 22 Smart Green Schools.
“His case seems simple,” he went on.
The EFCC said last Friday that they were looking for Ogundele because they thought he was involved in money laundering.
Ogundele went on X right away to accuse the Enugu State government for what the EFCC did.
A few moments later, Enugu State said that the suspect had gone after taking N5.7 billion as a 50% mobilization fee to build 22 Smart Green Schools across the state.
Malachy Agbo, the Information and Communication Commissioner, stated in a statement that Ogundele got a contract worth N11.4 billion on July 2, 2024, and the work was supposed to be done in six months.
The culprit is said to have done a bad job, hired fake engineers, and then left all the locations without meeting any structural requirements.
He said, in part, “To be clear, the Enugu State Government gave Sujimoto Luxury Construction Ltd a contract worth N11,457,930,950.52 on July 2, 2024, to build 22 Smart Schools (buildings only) in six months, starting from the date the award was accepted.”
“The Enugu State Government paid N5,762,565,475.25, which is 50% of the contract cost, to speed up the work at all the sites.
“Instead of following the rules of the contract to finish quality projects for furnishing and equipping before the start of school in September 2025, as the government has made the Smart Green Schools initiative a top priority, Mr. Ogundele did shoddy work and hired untrained workers and fake engineers.
“None of his sites met the structural integrity of the projects as shown in the structural drawing.”
“Even worse, he disappeared with the money. The administration tried everything to get him to a roundtable to talk about the quality and progress of work, but nothing worked.
He also refused to go to the state government’s regular project briefings for all contractors or answer the many calls and texts that were sent to him.
“In fact, he almost left the locations, which meant that the Enugu State Government had no alternative but to ask the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to get the money back that they had paid him.
On May 8 and 9, 2025, a team of officers from the Enugu State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure and the EFCC went to the 22 sites to check on the progress of the work. They found that very little to no work had been done at the sites one year after the contract was awarded.
“In some circumstances, he lied and didn’t dig up all the blocks on the property.
“It is also on record that he hasn’t been to the sites or made himself available to the state administration or the police even after those visits.
“It is also important to note that during the investigation, it was found that he presented a bond from Jaiz Bank but used Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited’s Zenith Bank account number 1312731196 to receive the payment and withdraw the funds without putting them to use on the projects.
“This plainly shows that the state was going to be cheated from the start.
“The government has since seized back the sites and given them to new companies, which have no choice but to start building again.
“Great progress has been made to keep the Mbah Administration’s goal of moving Enugu kids to Smart Green Schools by September on track.
“It is also important to note that other companies were given more than one Smart Green School project and are completing them on time and to a high standard.
“Nigerians should ignore his fake tears and theatrics because the Enugu State Government is determined to get back every penny of Ndi Enugu that Mr. Olasijibomi Ogundele (Sujimoto) stole.”
The statement from the Enugu State government came with images of the project sites that Sujimoto had left behind. These pictures were taken by a team of state officials and EFCC agents who visited the sites on May 8 and 9.
The photographs made it evident that most of the project sites were at the foundation and DPC phases, with only a handful reaching the block work stage.
When we called, Mr. Dele Oyewale, the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, replied, “The investigation of the two cases is still going on.”
He didn’t want to say anything else.
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