The Oduduwa Transparency Network (OPN) has called on the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to urgently investigate an alleged scheme by former Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari, to funnel stolen refinery funds into the MSM Group’s $2.4 billion cement manufacturing venture.
In a press conference held in Abuja on Thursday, OPN President Mahmud Adebayo accused Kyari and his associates of using MSM Group as a front to launder $2.8 billion meant for the rehabilitation of Nigeria’s Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries.
Adebayo highlighted MSM Group’s sudden rise, particularly its $2.4 billion deal with the Kebbi State Government to build a three-million-metric-ton-per-annum cement plant, announced by Chairman Alhaji Muazzam Mairawani.
He noted the striking similarity between this investment and the $2.896 billion allocated for refinery repairs under Kyari’s tenure, which the EFCC is probing.
“What is Kyari not telling Nigerians about how funds were passed under the table to his proxies in MSM Group?” Adebayo questioned, pointing to the presence of former NNPC executives Henry Ikem Obih and Aisha Katagum on MSM’s board, both of whom worked closely with Kyari.
The OPN alleged that MSM Group’s opaque ownership structure and lack of disclosed funding sources—whether from the stock exchange, money markets, or consortiums—raise suspicions of illicit financial flows.
Adebayo further claimed that Kyari’s former bank account officer, now a director at MSM Group, facilitated the diversion of NNPCL funds.
He described a recent “fake resignation” rumour surrounding NNPCL’s current Group CEO, Bayo Ojulari, as a distraction to mask MSM’s cement venture announcement.
“We find it insulting that Kyari assumed Nigerians cannot decipher this matrix,” Adebayo said, demanding that MSM Group disclose its investors’ identities and funding origins.
The OPN aligned with calls for a thorough EFCC investigation into Kyari and his associates, urging the recovery of allegedly stolen funds.
“It is against natural justice for a clique of cronies to steal the commonwealth and use it to buy up the country,” he added.
The EFCC has not commented on the allegations, but the OPN’s statement intensifies scrutiny on Kyari, whose tenure saw NNPCL’s strategic partnerships fail to deliver functional refineries.
