The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday arraigned the former Managing Director of Port Harcourt Refining Company Ltd (PHRC), Ahmed Adamu Dikko, before the Federal High Court in Abuja over an alleged N1.32 billion money laundering case.
Mr Dikko was arraigned alongside Masterpiece Projects & Investment Limited as the first and second defendants, respectively, on a 12-count charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/360/2026 before Justice Inyang Ekwo. The charge was filed on June 22 by EFCC counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
Mr Dikko, an engineer, was reportedly appointed Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company in March 2020 with a mandate to drive the rehabilitation of the moribund refinery. He led the company for roughly four years before leaving the position.
The EFCC said the charges against him form part of a wider investigation into the alleged diversion of funds released for the turnaround maintenance and rehabilitation of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries.
The EFCC accused Mr Dikko of laundering a total of N1,322,839,112.7, said to be proceeds linked to contractors engaged by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery.
According to the charge, the funds were allegedly moved 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.
In Count 1, the commission alleged that Mr 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.” thereby committing 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 8 alleged that on or about June 26, 2023, in Abuja, Mr Dikko “disguised the origin of the sum of N328,710,337.50 paid into the GTBank Account No. 0123201507 operated by Masterpiece Projects & Investment Limited by OMSA Integrated Services Limited from transactions involving NNPC Limited allocation of Vacuum Gas Oil for export.” The EFCC said he knew the money constituted proceeds of unlawful activity. Thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2) (a) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”
In Count 11, Mr Dikko was accused of converting an aggregate sum of $77,080 through one Ibrahim Isa Yaro between October 2022 and May 2025. The Commission stated that the amount “did not form part of your known lawful earnings as a former public officer with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd.” Thereby, committing 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.
Court proceedings
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to him.
Following the plea, his counsel, Okechukwu Ajunwa, SAN, urged the court to grant the defendant bail pending the determination of the suit. Iheanacho, however, opposed the bail application.
In his ruling on the bail application, Justice Ekwo granted the defendant bail in the sum of N150 million with a surety who must be resident within the jurisdiction of the court and with a landed property valued at not less than the bail sum.
He ordered that the defendant be remanded in the custody of the EFCC pending when he’s able to meet the bail conditions.
The matter was therefore adjourned to October 12, 13 and 14, 2026 for trial.
The refinery
The Port Harcourt Refineries comprise two units, with the old plant having a refining capacity of 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) and the new plant 150,000 bpd, both summing up to 210,000 bpd.
The refinery has not operated maximally for over two decades. It was shut down in March 2019 for the first phase of repair works after the government secured the service of Italy’s Maire Tecnimont to handle the review of the refinery complex, with oil major Eni appointed technical adviser.
In 2021, NNPC Ltd said repairs had started at the refinery after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved $1.5 billion for the project.
On 21 December 2023, the Nigerian government announced the mechanical completion and the flare start-off of the refinery.
In November 2024, NNPC Ltd said the refinery had commenced production after a long period of rehabilitation. The NNPC Ltd said the refinery began truck loading of petroleum products on Tuesday, 26 November 2024.
In May 2025, the NNPC announced the shutdown of the refinery for planned maintenance.
