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 at 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, The Nation gathered yesterday.
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.
The Chief Executive Officer of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited, Sijibomi Ogundele, who is also being investigated by the commission, is to remain in its custody pending the conclusion of the probe of how he allegedly obtained over N5 billion from the Enugu State Government in respect of a contract he failed to deliver.
The commission has obtained a remand order to that effect from a magistrate court.
The commission has already placed restrictions on some of Kyari’s accounts.
Sources said yesterday 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.
“It is left to them to prove their innocence in court,” the source added.
“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 conditions.
Among other things, Kyari is to account for the over $2.5 billion voted for turn-around 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).
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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.