Over the weekend, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) increased its surveillance of contractors and former executives of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), who are implicated in the ongoing fraud investigation, to prevent them from evading accountability.

Immigration officials are therefore on high alert to ensure that individuals suspected of planning to leave the country are not successful.

As part of a larger plan to hold all offenders accountable, the NIS has joined the principal investigating agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), according to a source with knowledge of the situation who was not authorised to speak to the Daily.

“The NIS has flagged the passports of some individuals who feature prominently in these allegations. While some are currently being interrogated by the EFCC, other names are also emerging. So, the EFCC, Police, and NIS are actively collaborating to ensure that no principal actor escapes justice."

“Once a passport is flagged, the information of such a person is made available across all airports and land borders in the country, thereby making it very difficult for the individual to flee the country through formal travel arrangements,” the insider continued.

Daily Sun reported that the source also mentioned that some current NNPC officers and contractors, in addition to former NNPC officials, are being monitored.

He added that the President was deeply embarrassed by the claims of fraud involving the Port Harcourt and other refineries in Kaduna and Warri, and that the security services had been ordered to do everything in their power to identify those responsible.

“There are some contractors and sub-contractors who were paid for jobs not done in the refinery rehabilitation, while others received payments for incomplete jobs and then absconded. All these individuals are being targeted in this latest onslaught.”

The EFCC detained the fired managing directors and several high-ranking officers of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, and Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company over the weekend as part of broader investigations. They were arrested due to alleged abuse of funds intended for facility rehabilitation. The total amount under investigation is $2,956,872,622.36.

The immediate former Group Chief Executive Officer of the national oil company, Mele Kyari, is part of the EFCC's investigation, according to a document marked "Investigation Activities: Request for Information" and dated April 28, 2025. Thirteen other former senior officials of NNPCL were listed in the EFCC document, which was sent to the national oil company's Group Managing Director (Group CEO).

“The commission is investigating a case of abuse of office and misappropriation of funds in which the underlisted officials of your organisation featured,” the document stated.

Abubakar Yar'Adua, Mele Kyari, Isiaka Abdulrazak, Umar Ajiya, Dikko Ahmed, Ibrahim Onoja, Ademoye Jelili, and Mustapha Sugungun were among the officials listed. Others include Bello Kankaya, Jimoh Olasunkanmi, Babatunde Bakare, Efiok Akpan, Kayode Adetokunbo, and Desmond Inyama.

In 2021, Italy's Tecnimont was awarded a contract by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to modernise the Port Harcourt oil refinery, with an estimated cost of $1.5 billion. The refinery was expected to reach 90% production capacity in the first phase of the project, which was supposed to be completed within 18 months. The second and final stages were expected to be completed in 24 and 44 months, respectively.

However, the project faced a number of setbacks, causing the NNPC to miss multiple deadlines. By December 2023, the NNPC declared the refinery to be mechanically completed.

During the 15th Refineries’ Rehabilitation Steering Committee Meeting and an inspection tour of the rehabilitation project, Mr. Mele Kyari, the former Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd., stated that as of December 15, 2023, 77.4% of the rehabilitation project and 84.4% of the Area 5 Plant, a crucial part of the refinery, had been completed.

With the start of the truck-out, NNPC announced on November 26, 2024, that it had delivered the 60,000 barrels per day old Port Harcourt refinery. However, by January 2025, the refinery's operations had slowed again, with local authorities in the host community claiming that the facility had never been fully operational.

Experts finally speak on mismanagement of over $2.9 billion

Legit.ng reported that as investigations and arrests related to the mismanagement of more than $2.9 billion intended for refinery rehabilitation continue to rock Nigeria, the country's oil industry is once again at the epicentre of a massive corruption storm.

Energy and economic experts have demanded a thorough investigation, prompt prosecution of those responsible, and extensive reforms to stop a recurrence.

A number of high-ranking former executives from the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries were recently arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on suspicion of financial irregularities in the multibillion-dollar rehabilitation projects.