The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday arraigned the former Managing Director of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), Jimoh Yisawu, before the Federal High Court in Abuja on charges bordering on alleged money laundering.
Yisawu pleaded not guilty to the charges before Justice Inyang Ekwo, who admitted him to bail in the sum of N500 million with one surety in like sum.
The court ruled that the surety must be a responsible citizen with landed property within its jurisdiction, while the title documents must be verified by the court registrar. Justice Ekwo also ordered the former refinery boss to surrender his international passport and barred him from travelling outside Nigeria without the court's approval. Pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions, Yisawu was remanded in the custody of the EFCC.
The case was adjourned until October 25, 26 and 27 for the commencement of trial.
According to the charges filed by EFCC counsel, Ekele Iheanacho (SAN), the anti-graft agency alleged that between October 2023 and May 2025, Yisawu indirectly converted $789,950 through one Samaila Bala. The commission claimed the funds were proceeds of unlawful activities and were not part of his legitimate earnings as a former official of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.).
The EFCC further alleged that during the same period, Yisawu made cash payments exceeding the statutory threshold to Samaila Bala without routing the transactions through a financial institution, contrary to the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
In a separate count, the commission accused him of indirectly converting another $122,600 through Rasheed Olaitan Yusuf of Rasheedat Anike Global Ventures between February 2024 and March 2025, alleging that the funds also represented proceeds of unlawful activities.
The anti-corruption agency further alleged that Yisawu retained N25.563 million paid into his Zenith Bank and Access Bank accounts by JKpeez Impex Co., a contractor to a subsidiary of NNPC Ltd., despite allegedly knowing the money was derived from unlawful activities.
The EFCC also accused him of transferring N65.86 million to Cordros Securities Limited on February 21, 2024, to purchase treasury bills with funds it claimed were proceeds of unlawful activity.
The charges stem from an ongoing investigation into the alleged diversion of funds approved for the rehabilitation of Nigeria's state-owned refineries. The EFCC had earlier filed similar money laundering charges against the former Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), Ahmed Dikko, over the same investigation.
The commission alleged that both former refinery chiefs received payments from contractors engaged by NNPC Ltd., used company accounts to conceal illicit funds, and carried out large cash transactions in violation of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The EFCC has also disclosed that its investigation led to the recovery of more than N9.4 billion, $21.2 million (valued at about N29.26 billion), as well as several landed properties believed to be linked to the alleged offences.
