Ex-Port Harcourt Refinery MD Faces N1.32bn Money-Laundering Trial

Former Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited (PHRC), Ahmed Adamu Dikko, is facing a 12-count money-laundering charge over an alleged ₦1.32 billion linked to contractors involved in the rehabilitation of Nigeria’s state-owned refinery.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned Dikko before Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja on July 8, 2026. He pleaded not guilty to all 12 counts.

The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/360/2026, was filed on June 22 by EFCC counsel Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, and names Masterpiece Projects & Investment Limited as the second defendant. 

What the EFCC alleges

According to the charge, the EFCC alleges that Dikko dealt with a total of ₦1,322,839,112.70 allegedly derived from unlawful activities connected with contractors working on the Port Harcourt refinery rehabilitation programme.

The alleged transactions included cash purchases of property, retention of funds in bank accounts, transfers through third parties and foreign-currency transactions.

One count alleges that Dikko paid the dollar equivalent of ₦218.375 million in cash to a person identified as Hadeija Bashir for the purchase of Plot 558, Abubakar Umar Street, Katampe Extension, Abuja, without passing the transaction through a financial institution. 

Another allegation concerns ₦328.71 million paid into a GTBank account operated by Masterpiece Projects & Investment Limited. The EFCC alleges that the money originated from transactions involving an NNPC allocation of Vacuum Gas Oil for export and that its origin was concealed.

The commission also alleges that Dikko retained various sums allegedly paid by refinery contractors, including ₦100 million and ₦90 million associated with Ebenco Global Link Limited. Other counts involve alleged payments of ₦30 million, ₦10 million and ₦4.75 million from entities linked to refinery contracting activities. 

The charge further alleges that Dikko received ₦59.2 million through Masterpiece Projects & Investment Limited, caused another ₦356.41 million to be received through a third party, and converted $77,080 through another individual between October 2022 and May 2025. 

The allegations are brought under provisions of Nigeria’s Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

The refinery connection

The case comes against the backdrop of one of Nigeria’s most expensive and closely watched refinery rehabilitation programmes.

Dikko was appointed managing director of PHRC in March 2020, with responsibility for overseeing the rehabilitation programme. In April 2021, NNPC signed a rehabilitation contract with Italian engineering company Maire Tecnimont for the Port Harcourt refinery complex, whose two plants have a combined installed capacity of about 210,000 barrels per day. 

The rehabilitation programme was estimated at about $1.5 billion. By December 2023, NNPC said 77.4 per cent of the overall rehabilitation project had been completed, while Area 5 had reached 84.4 per cent.

The old 60,000-barrel-per-day plant subsequently resumed operations in 2024, with NNPC announcing that products including petrol, diesel and kerosene were being trucked out of the facility.

The EFCC investigation into the rehabilitation programme has extended beyond Dikko. Premium Times reported in June that the commission had also filed a separate money-laundering case against former Managing Director of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, Jimoh Olasunkanmi Yisawu, while investigating alleged financial dealings surrounding refinery rehabilitation contracts. 

Bail and next steps

Following his not-guilty plea, Dikko’s lawyers sought bail. Justice Ekwo subsequently granted him ₦150 million bail, with one surety in the same amount. The court required the surety to reside within its jurisdiction and own landed property valued at not less than the bail sum. Dikko was also ordered to surrender his international passport and remained in EFCC custody until the bail conditions were met. 

The court fixed October 12, 13 and 14, 2026 for trial.

The allegations against Dikko have not been proved in court. He has pleaded not guilty and remains presumed innocent unless and until the prosecution establishes the charges beyond the applicable legal standard.