The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has received a formal petition calling for the investigation and prosecution of former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari.
The petition, submitted by a coalition of lawyers and civil society organisations, accuses Kyari of corruption, economic sabotage, tax evasion, and abuse of office during his tenure from July 2019 to February 2025.
The petition follows earlier demonstrations by the “Concerned Citizens Against Corruption” and the Guardians of Democracy and Rule of Law, both of which staged protests at the Federal Ministry of Justice earlier this week, demanding accountability for alleged financial mismanagement under Kyari’s leadership.
The lawyers, under the Guardians of Democracy and Rule of Law and led by Asika Raymond, submitted the petition to the EFCC on Friday.
EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale, who received the petition on behalf of the Commission’s chairman, Ola Olukoyede, assured that the allegations would be thoroughly examined.
The petition outlines multiple allegations, including:
Inflation of costs in refinery rehabilitation projects, particularly the Port Harcourt Refinery, which allegedly cost $1.5 billion—$500 million more than initially estimated.
Questionable payments to consultants and contractors without adequate transparency.
Diversion of crude oil allocations under the guise of pipeline security, allegedly involving 80,000 barrels per day with no clear accountability.
Irregularities in the $5 billion AKK Gas Pipeline Project, including concerns over contract awards and execution.
Suspected fraud related to fuel subsidies, including inflated import volumes during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown.
Crude-backed loans totaling $21.565 billion since 2019, which the petitioners argue were structured in ways that disadvantaged Nigeria.
Unaccounted expenditures on oil exploration projects running into billions of naira.
The petitioners urged the EFCC to initiate a forensic audit of NNPCL’s payments to contractors and consultants, recover misappropriated funds, and work with the Federal Inland Revenue Service to investigate suspected tax evasion.