Former Port Harcourt Refinery MD Arraigned Over Alleged N1.32bn Money Laundering Scheme

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Ahmed Adamu Dikko, former Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), before the Federal High Court in Abuja over an alleged N1.32 billion money laundering scheme linked to the rehabilitation of the state-owned refinery.

Dikko was docked alongside Masterpiece Projects & Investment Limited on a 12-count charge bordering on money laundering, concealment of illicit funds and unlawful financial transactions under the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

According to the EFCC, the alleged offences involve funds traced to contractors engaged by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery. The anti-graft agency accused the defendants of laundering about N1.32 billion through cash property acquisitions, third-party transactions, undisclosed bank retentions and unauthorised foreign exchange conversions.

One of the charges alleges that Dikko made a cash payment equivalent to N218.38 million for the purchase of a property in Abuja without passing through a financial institution, while another accuses him of concealing the origin of N328.71 million allegedly paid into the account of Masterpiece Projects & Investment Limited from transactions involving NNPCL’s allocation of Vacuum Gas Oil for export. He is also accused of converting $77,080 between October 2022 and May 2025 through a third party, an amount the EFCC claims exceeded his known lawful earnings as a former public officer.

The defendants pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Following the arraignment, defence counsel Okechukwu Ajunwa, SAN, applied for bail on behalf of Dikko. Although EFCC counsel Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, opposed the application, Justice Inyang Ekwo granted the former refinery boss bail in the sum of N150 million with one surety in like amount. The court ruled that the surety must reside within the Federal Capital Territory and own landed property valued at not less than the bail sum. Pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions, Dikko was ordered remanded in EFCC custody.

Justice Ekwo adjourned the matter to October 12, 13 and 14, 2026, for trial.

Dikko served as Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company for about four years after his appointment in 2020 to oversee the rehabilitation of the refinery. The charges against him form part of the EFCC’s broader investigation into the alleged diversion and laundering of funds earmarked for the turnaround maintenance and rehabilitation of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries.