The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday, July 8, 2026 arraigned Mr. Ahmed Adamu Dikko, the immediate past Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company Ltd (PHRC), before Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on a 12-count charge of money laundering.
The accusation, numbered FHC/ABJ/CR/360/2026, was dated and submitted on June 22 by the Commission’s lawyer, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, and named Dikko and Masterpiece Projects & Investment Limited as first and second defendants respectively.
Dikko, who has been at the helms of the Port Harcourt Refining Company for almost four years, pleaded not guilty to a 12-count indictment preferred against him by the Commission on Wednesday, July 8, 2026.
The EFCC accused Dikko of laundering N1,322,839,112.7 (One billion, Three hundred and twenty-two million, Eight hundred and thirty-nine thousand, One hundred and twelve naira, Seven kobo) in proceeds alleged to be linked to contractors engaged by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery, through cash property purchases, undisclosed bank retentions, third-party fund concealment and unauthorised currency conversion, in violation of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Part of count one reads: “That you AHMED ADAMU DIKKO… did directly make 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 without passing through a financial Institution and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Sections 2(1)(a), 19(d) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and punishable under Section 19(2)(b) of the same Act.”
Count eight reads: “That you AHMED ADAMU DIKKO, sometime in the month of June, 2023 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, disguised the origin of the sum of N328,710,337.50 (Three Hundred and Twenty Eight Million, Seven Hundred and Ten Thousand, Three Hundred and Thirty Seven Naira, Fifty Kobo) paid into the GTBank Account Plc No. 0123201507 operated by Masterpiece Projects & Investment Limited by OMSA Integrated Services Limited from the transactions of NNPC Limited allocat
Count eleven reads: “That you AHMED ADAMU DIKKO between October, 2022 and May, 2025 did convert the aggregate sum of $77,080 through Ibrahim Isa Yaro which amount did not form part of your known lawful earnings as a former public officer with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and punishable under Section 18(3) of the same Act.”
The charges were read to the defendant, who pleaded not guilty.
Thereafter, the Counsel to the Defendant, Okechukwu Ajunwa, SAN, sought the Court to give the Defendant bail pending the decision of the action. But Iheanacho objected to the bail application.
In his verdict on the bail application, Justice Ekwo granted the defendant bail in the sum of N150,000,000 (One Hundred and Fifty Million Naira) with a surety who must be living within the jurisdiction of the court and with a landed property valued at not less than the bail sum. He directed that the defendant be kept in the custody of the EFCC until he is able to meet his bail conditions.
Accordingly the matter was rescheduled to the 12, 13 and 14 October 2026 for hearing.
Dikko, an engineer, was said to have been appointed Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company in March 2020 with a remit to spearhead the rehabilitation of the moribund refinery. He served as the company’s CEO for about four years before stepping down from the post.
Dikko’s charges are part of a broader EFCC probe into the alleged embezzlement of monies allocated for the turnaround maintenance and restoration of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries.
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