EFCC Drags Ex-Port Harcourt Refinery MD to Court over Alleged

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned the former Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), Ahmed Dikko, before the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations of money laundering involving more than ₦218 million.

Dikko was brought before Justice Inyang Ekwo on Wednesday alongside Masterpiece Projects & Investment Ltd on a 12-count charge bordering on alleged violations of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

According to the anti-graft agency, the former refinery boss allegedly used about ₦218.4 million to acquire a property in the Katampe Extension area of Abuja without passing the funds through a financial institution as required by law.

The EFCC also accused Dikko of receiving and retaining funds from contractors engaged by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, concealing the origin of part of the money through third parties and carrying out transactions that allegedly breached the country’s money laundering laws.

When the charges were read in court, Dikko pleaded not guilty to all 12 counts.

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Following his plea, EFCC lead counsel, Ekele Iheanacho (SAN), requested that the court fix a date for trial. Defence counsel, Ikechukwu Ajunwa (SAN), however, urged the court to admit his client to bail, arguing that Dikko had complied with the administrative bail conditions earlier granted by the EFCC and posed no flight risk.

Justice Ekwo ruled in favour of the defendant, stressing that bail is a constitutional right that cannot be denied without compelling reasons.

The court granted Dikko bail in the sum of ₦150 million with one surety in like amount. The surety must own landed property within the court’s jurisdiction, submit the title documents for verification and be a responsible citizen. The judge also ordered Dikko to surrender his international passport and barred him from travelling outside Nigeria without the court’s approval.

The case was adjourned to October 12, 13 and 14, 2026, for the commencement of trial.

The latest development comes barely two weeks after the EFCC filed separate charges against Dikko and former Managing Director of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), Jimoh Yisawu, over the alleged diversion of funds released for the rehabilitation of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries.

The trial is expected to further expose the EFCC’s investigation into the handling of billions of naira earmarked for refinery rehabilitation, a programme that has remained under intense public scrutiny despite repeated government assurances aimed at reviving the country’s refining capacity.