$7.2 billion Fraud: Wanted NNPCL’s ex-CFO, Isa says he surrendered to EFCC voluntarily

Former Chief Finance Officer (CFO) of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Umar Ajiya Isa, has debunked claims the media that he was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in connection with alleged $7.2 billion fraud.

Isa who was declared wanted said he voluntarily surrendered himself to the anti-graft agency and insisted that he was never arrested by the operatives of EFCC as reported.

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He issued a disclaimer in a statement made available to journalists on Wednesday in Abuja, clarifying he voluntarily surrendered himself to the Commission and was never arrested over the alleged $7.2 billion linked to transactions at the Warri and Port Harcourt refineries.

According to him, he walked into EFCC to explain what he knew about
$7.2 billion in relation to any refinery fraud which he did.

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He said he was questioned by the EFCC and thereafter, he left, while expressing surprise to read in the media that he was arrested.

“I served at NNPC Limited and I left with my integrity intact. Nobody has accused me of any fraud throughout my sojourn at the company.

“People who are pushing this false narrative of arrest and detention just want to tarnish my reputation.”

Isa said he was ready at any time to defend his reputation and years of service at the NNPCL.

“I am in this country and any day and any time the EFCC requests me to appear before them I will be present,” he added.

The immediate past administration of Engr Mele Kyari as the Group Chief Executive Officer was accused of mind-boggling corruption even as the Senate Committee on Public Accounts chaired by Senator Aliyu Wadada last week raised the alarm.

The Committee expressed concerns that the NNPCL’s audited financial statements from 2017 to 2023 was full of financial irregularities.

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