The Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on Tuesday, has convicted and sentenced two oil marketers, Mamman Nasir Ali and Christian Taylor, to 14 years imprisonment each for N2.2 billion oil subsidy fraud.
Justice Mojisola Dada delivered the judgment against the defendants, according to a statement by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday.
They were re-arraigned alongside Nasaman Oil Services Limited on an amended 57-count charge.
EFCC Case
According to the EFCC statement, the defendants were initially arraigned on a 49-count charge bordering on conspiracy to obtain money by false pretence, forgery, and the use of false documents.
- They were arrested by the Commission and arraigned for obtaining the sum of N1,480,074,125.61 from the Federal Government of Nigeria.
- The EFCC accused them of claiming that the sum represented a subsidy accruing to Nasaman Oil Services Ltd under the Petroleum Support Fund for the importation of 20,492,982.50 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
One of the counts reads: “Nasaman Oil Services Ltd, Mamman Nasir Ali, Christian Taylor, Oluwaseun Ogunbambo (now at large) and Olabisi Abdul-Afeez (still at large), on or about the 9th day of November 2011 at Lagos, within the Ikeja Judicial Division, with intent to defraud, conspired to obtain the sum of N749,991,273.36 (Seven Hundred and Forty-Nine Million, Nine Hundred and Ninety-One Thousand, Two Hundred and Seventy-Three Naira Thirty-six Kobo) from the Federal Government of Nigeria by falsely claiming that the sum of N749,991,273.36 represented subsidy accruing to Nasaman Oil Services Ltd under the Petroleum Support Fund for the importation of 10,031,986 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), which Nasaman Oil Services Ltd purported to have purchased from SEATAC Petroleum Ltd of British Virgin Islands and imported into Nigeria through MT Liquid Fortune Ltd of British Virgin Islands and imported into Nigeria through MT Liquid Fortune Ltd Ex MT Overseas Lima, which representation you knew to be false.”
Another count reads: “Nasaman Oil Services Ltd, Mamman Nasir Ali, Christian Taylor, Oluwaseun Ogunbambo (now at large) and Olabisi Abdul-Afeez (still at large), on or about the 11th day of April 2011 at Lagos, within the Ikeja Judicial Division, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of N1,480,074,125.61 (One Billion Four Hundred and Eighty Million, Seventy-Four Thousand, One Hundred and Twenty-Five Naira Sixty-One Kobo) from the Federal Government of Nigeria by claiming that the sum represented subsidy accruing to Nasaman Oil Services Ltd under the Petroleum Support Fund for the importation of 20,492,982.50 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), which Nasaman Oil Services Ltd purported to have purchased from SEATAC Petroleum Ltd of British Virgin Islands and imported into Nigeria through MT Liquid Fortune Ex Mt. Hellenic Blue and Ex MT. Milleura, which representation you knew to be false.”
- But the defendants pleaded not guilty to all the charges preferred against them.
- The trial was initially holding before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos.
“However, Justice Onigbanjo withdrew from the case, thereby prompting the re-assignment of the case to Justice Dada, “ the EFCC statement added.
- The EFCC stressed that the prosecution led by Seiduh Atteh presented witnesses and tendered documents to substantiate its claims.
Court Judgement
Delivering judgment on Tuesday, Justice Dada held “that the actions of the defendants not only defrauded the government, but also undermined the integrity of Nigeria’s oil subsidy programme.”
- The judge sentenced the defendants to 14 years imprisonment each, according to the EFCC.
- The judge also ordered the forfeiture of identified assets and accounts linked to the fraud.
- The judge also issued a warrant for the arrest of both Oluwaseun Ogunbambo and Olabisi Abdul Afeez, two other suspects still at large.
