By Adenike Ayodele
An Ikeja Special Offences Court on Tuesday sentenced Mamman Ali and Christian Taylor to 14 years’ imprisonment each over a N2.2 billion oil subsidy fraud.
Ali, son of a former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ahmadu Ali, and Taylor were charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The EFCC charged them alongside Nasaman Oil Services Ltd with an amended 57-count charge bordering on conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretences, forgery, and the use of false documents.
They pleaded not guilty.
While delivering the judgment, Justice Mojisola Dada held that the EFCC had successfully proved its case.
Dada held that the evidence presented by the prosecution was compelling and proved the charge against the convicts.
According to her, the actions of the convicts not only defrauded the government of Nigeria but also undermined the integrity of the country’s oil subsidy programme.
The judge thereafter convicted the duo and consequently sentenced them to 14 years’ imprisonment each on all the counts.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of identified assets and accounts linked to the fraud.
Dada also issued a warrant for the arrest of both Oluwaseun Ogunbambo and Olabisi Abdulafeez, two other suspects still at large.
During the trial, the EFCC counsel, Mr Seiduh Atteh, presented nine witnesses through whom several compelling documents were admitted into evidence against the convicts.
The convicts testified as witnesses for the defence.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the convicts were initially standing trial before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo (rtd) of the Ikeja High Court prior to his retirement.
The EFCC submitted that the convicts committed the offences sometime in 2011.
The commission stated that the duo fraudulently obtained the sum of N1.9 billion from the Federal Government, claiming the sum represented subsidy accruing to Nasaman Oil Services Ltd under the Petroleum Support Fund.
The EFCC said the defendants claimed the sum was for the importation of 20,492,982.50 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
The anti-graft agency stated that the defendants also claimed that the PMS, which Nasaman Oil Services Ltd purported to have purchased from SEATAC Petroleum Ltd of the British Virgin Islands, was imported into Nigeria.
The commission said the representation the defendants made was false.
The EFCC also affirmed that the convicts presented forged documents, including a falsified “Gasoline Analysis.” (NAN)
