Court Cancels Forfeiture Order Against Former Warri Refinery Boss

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday cancelled an interim forfeiture order on properties and money linked to Jimoh Olasunkanmi Yisawu. He is the former managing director of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company.

The court also dismissed a request by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for a final forfeiture of the assets. The court ruled that the EFCC did not prove that the assets came from illegal activities.

Judge James Omotosho made the decision after looking at evidence from both sides, according to a report by Nairametrics.

Mr Yisawu worked with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for 32 years, from 1991 to 2023. He was managing director of the Warri refinery for about 10 months, from November 2022 to September 2023.

The EFCC claimed that his assets were too much compared to his known legal income. They argued that he obtained the properties using money from illegal activities linked to his time at the NNPC.

But Mr Yisawu told the court that his salaries, allowances, and other legal earnings helped him buy the properties. He also said he bought the two Lagos properties through loans and legal earnings between 2015 and 2020, years before he became the refinery’s managing director.

Judge Omotosho accepted his explanation and said his evidence was stronger than the EFCC’s. He noted that Mr Yisawu’s bank statements showed transactions of over N1.5 billion, which he thought was reasonable after 32 years of work.

The court also pointed out that Mr Yisawu had declared his assets to the Code of Conduct Bureau. It accepted that he bought treasury bills after he left his job.

The EFCC said it started investigating Mr Yisawu after getting information in 2024 about possible financial crimes by officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

They claimed that a provisional sum of $56 million was set aside for quick repairs at the Warri refinery in 2022. Mr Yisawu, who led the provisional sum tender board, reportedly oversaw the project and gave contracts to over 20 local contractors.

The commission also accused him of paying $900,000 to two Bureau de Change operators between 2021 and 2025. They claimed this money was used to buy properties in Lagos.

Mr Yisawu denied any wrongdoing. Through his lawyer, Wale Balogun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), he said he bought the properties before he became managing director.

He also mentioned that neither the NNPC, its successor company, the refinery, nor the contractor had any complaints about how he managed the project.

The forfeiture case is different from the criminal case against Mr Yisawu.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the EFCC filed eight charges of money laundering involving N1.339 billion against him. He pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned in July.

The criminal trial was set to start in October. Judge Inyang Ekwo then scheduled the trial to begin on January 18, 19, and 20, 2027.