EFCC Arraigns Ex-Port Harcourt Refinery MD Ahmed Dikko Over Alleged N38bn Money Laundering

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned the immediate past Managing Director of Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited (PHRC) Ahmed Dikko, before the Federal High Court in Abuja over alleged money laundering offences linked to transactions involving the refinery.

Dikko was arraigned alongside Masterpiece Projects & Investment Limited on a 12-count charge before Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

The defendants pleaded not guilty to all the charges brought against them by the anti-graft agency.

Following the arraignment, Justice Ekwo granted Dikko bail in the sum of N150 million with one surety and ordered that the surety must own landed property within the court’s jurisdiction.

The court also directed the former refinery boss to deposit his international passport with the court and restricted him from travelling outside Nigeria without judicial approval.

Justice Ekwo subsequently fixed October 12, 13 and 14, 2026, for the commencement of trial.

The EFCC had filed the charges on June 22 through its prosecution counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), alleging that Dikko committed offences bordering on money laundering, retention of suspected proceeds of unlawful activity and concealment of funds.

The allegations relate to transactions said to have occurred between 2022 and 2025, during and after Dikko’s tenure as managing director of PHRC.

Dikko was appointed head of the Port Harcourt refinery in March 2020 to oversee the Federal Government’s multi-billion-naira rehabilitation and turnaround maintenance programme for the facility.

In one of the counts, the EFCC alleged that in February 2024, Dikko indirectly made a cash payment of N218.375 million to one Hadeija Bashir for the purchase of a property in Katampe Extension, Abuja, without passing the funds through a financial institution.

The commission alleged that the transaction violated provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

The EFCC further alleged that Dikko retained N100 million in a Fidelity Bank account between October 21 and 25, 2022, which it claimed formed part of payments received from Ebenco Global Link Limited, a contractor linked to PHRC under the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

The anti-graft agency also alleged that he retained another N90 million in a Guaranty Trust Bank account between December 2022 and December 2023, allegedly from the same source.

Other allegations contained in the charge include claims that Dikko took control of N30 million paid through an account operated by Medinus Mildred Oluba and allegedly disguised the origin of N328.71 million paid into an account operated by Masterpiece Projects & Investment Limited.

The commission also accused him of allegedly receiving N59.2 million through transactions involving OMSA Integrated Services Limited, procuring a contractor to receive N356.4 million on his behalf and converting $77,080 allegedly received through Ibrahim Isa Yaro.

The final count alleged that Dikko indirectly took control of N20 million through a bank account operated by his son, Ahmed Ahmed Dikko.

The former PHRC managing director, however, denied all allegations by pleading not guilty before the court.

His lawyer, Ikechukwu Ajunwa, SAN, urged the court to grant bail, arguing that Dikko had previously complied with administrative bail conditions granted by the EFCC and would not interfere with the trial or abscond.

The prosecution did not oppose the bail application but relied on a counter-affidavit filed before the court.

In granting bail, Justice Ekwo held that bail remained a constitutional right and that sufficient grounds must be established before an accused person could be denied the relief.

The arraignment is part of the EFCC’s wider investigation into alleged financial misconduct involving the rehabilitation of Nigeria’s government-owned refineries.

The commission had previously filed separate charges against the former Managing Director of Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), Jimoh Olasunkanmi Yisawu, over alleged diversion of funds connected to refinery rehabilitation activities.

The EFCC said its investigation into the refinery projects has led to the recovery of billions of naira in cash and assets, although the allegations against the defendants remain subject to judicial determination.