The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has directed the immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, to report to its Abuja headquarters daily as the commission prepares to arraign him in court soon.
Also expected to be charged by the commission are some former NNPC top shots and contractors.
Kyari and other suspects first faced EFCC investigators on Wednesday in connection with the more than $2.5 billion allegedly spent on the rehabilitation of the nation’s four refineries.
Sources said on Friday that the volume of documents being examined by detectives in the course of the investigation is much, hence the need for the former NNPC boss to show up every day to throw light on grey areas.
The sources could not confirm when Kyari’s daily presence would no longer be required by the EFCC. They, however, said all the suspects might be charged to court soon.
“The commission has granted Kyari bail with a clause that he should be reporting daily for interrogation and interaction as the case may be,” one of the sources said.
“We have isolated issues for him to respond to, documents to verify and contractors to confirm or deny their claims.
He said former MDs/GMs of the refineries had been interrogated, as well as some ex-officials of NNPC and contractors.
Interrogating Kyari, he said, is the final lap of the investigation.
“He is to fill in some gaps which will help us to prefer charges based on verifiable evidence,” he said.
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Responding to a question, the source said that barring last-minute evidence or clarifications, the evidence gathered so far indicates that Kyari may face trial with some former top shots of NNPC.
“It is left to them to prove their innocence in court,” the source added.
About $18 billion was said to have been expended since 2010, while the refineries remain in poor condition.
Among other things, Kyari is to account for the over $2.5 billion voted for turnaround maintenance (TAM) of the refineries during his tenure, including the disbursement of $1.55 billion to the Port Harcourt refinery, $740.6 million (Kaduna refinery) and $656.9 million (Warri refinery).
Kyari’s defence was unknown at press time, but he had earlier said he had nothing to hide.
Turn-around maintenance has been a major money pit of NNPC in the last three years in particular
On the 24th of June 2022, the Federal Executive Council awarded a Maintenance Services contract for Quick Fix Repairs of Warri Refinery to Daewoo Engineering and Construction Limited at $497,328,500.00.
The deal was different from the 2017 contract given to Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited for Tech Plant Survey of the Warri and Kaduna refineries at 2,025,000.32 Euros.
The Kaduna refinery and Petro-Chemical Company (KRPC) have gulped N2.266 billion for rehabilitation in the last 10 years.
The NNPCL approved a deal with Daewoo Engineering and Construction Limited to renovate the Kaduna refinery in February 2023 with a view to restoring the refinery to production of 110,000 barrels of petrol per day and at least 60 per cent capacity by early 2024.
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