An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) witness on Tuesday told a Federal High Court in Abuja that a former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources verbally directed him to approve the payment of $13.45 million from funds earmarked for a 2,000 barrels-per-day modular refinery project in Brass Island, Bayelsa State.
Gatekeepers News reports that the witness, Isaac Yalah, a former Director at the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), testified in the ongoing fraud trial of oil businessman Dr. Akintoye Akindele. The EFCC is prosecuting Akindele and two companies linked to him for allegedly converting $35 million belonging to the NCDMB.
Last month, the EFCC declared the former petroleum minister wanted for alleged conspiracy and dishonest conversion of $14.8 million — part of NCDMB’s investment in Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited. The commission said it secured a warrant for his arrest on November 6, 2025, from a Federal High Court in Lagos.
Project ‘abandoned till date’ despite $35m payment
Led in evidence by EFCC counsel E. E. Iheanacho (SAN), Yalah — the 4th prosecution witness — recounted how Akindele’s proposal for the refinery passed the NCDMB’s four “decision gates,” leading to the approval of $35 million to acquire a 40 percent equity stake in the project.
“When the proposal was approved, extract of the Governing Council was sent to the board… highlight of the extract included that the NCDMB invest $35 million to acquire 40% equity in the Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Ltd,” he said.
He added that he and the NCDMB’s Executive Secretary were nominated to sit on the company’s board and serve as co-signatories to the project account opened with Zenith Bank.
Yalah said that after the funds were received, Atlantic International Refinery submitted a disbursement schedule detailing six milestones in December 2020. He confirmed that $21.55 million, covering milestones 1 and 2, was transferred to the company’s operational account.
On January 29, 2021, he said the remaining $13.45 million — meant for milestones 3 to 6 — was moved based on a verbal instruction from the then minister.
“The second tranche of payment… was made on the instruction of the then Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and the instruction was given to me verbally. The Minister… was Timipre Sylva. He was the chairman of the Governing Council of the NCDMB,” Yalah testified.
The witness said there was no official confirmation that milestones 1 and 2 were completed, nor was there a breakdown showing how the initial $21.55 million was spent. However, he said the company presented “evidence of work done” at board meetings, including site clearing, sand filling, renovation of a health centre and water facility in Brass, payment for a generator, a data centre, and advance payments for refinery components.
He insisted that the project, expected to be completed in 24 months, “has not been completed up till now. The project, as it stands, is abandoned.”
Yalah also stated he had no knowledge of any work done under milestones 3 to 6. He noted that although he was a signatory to the project account, he was not a signatory to the operational account controlled by Akindele and his team.
Trial continues December 3
Justice Ekerete Akpan adjourned the matter to December 3 for cross-examination of the witness.
Akindele, Platform Capital Investment Partners Ltd, and Duport Midstream Company Ltd face six amended charges of retaining and using NCDMB funds allegedly linked to unlawful activity. Akindele pleaded not guilty and was granted bail.
His prosecution followed a petition by Hon. Isreal Sunny Goli, a former Bayelsa lawmaker, who alleged that although NCDMB confirmed paying $30 million for the Brass refinery project, “nothing tangible was done at the project site.”
