The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has grilled the former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, over alleged financial misconduct involving a $7.2 billion refinery turnaround maintenance project.

Sources at the anti-graft agency confirmed that Kyari was at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, where he was being interrogated by investigators.

“He is here with our investigators at the moment. That’s all I can disclose for now,” one of the sources told our correspondent.

Kyari was said to have been invited to explain multibillion-dollar transactions carried out under his watch as head of the state-owned oil company.

Efforts to reach the EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, for official comments were unsuccessful at press time.

The development comes amid ongoing probes into alleged irregularities in the management of funds earmarked for Nigeria’s refineries, which remain idle despite repeated turnaround maintenance contracts.

Kyari had earlier been placed on the EFCC watch list in connection with the controversial refinery programme.

In a related move, the Federal High Court in Abuja recently ordered the temporary freezing of four bank accounts linked to the former NNPCL boss, pending further investigations into alleged fraud.

Kyari, who led the NNPCL from 2019 until his replacement in July 2024, had overseen major reforms, including the corporation’s transition into a limited liability company.