PDP chairman’s son, others arraigned for subsidy fraud

 by Ade Adesomoju 

L–R: Mr. Olawale Akoni, SAN; an EFCC official; accused persons, Mr. Mahmud Tukur; and Mr. Mamman Nasir, after their arraignment for the misapplication of fuel subsidy at the Lagos High Court, Ikeja ... on Wednesday.

Mahmud Tukur, son of the incumbent National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Bamanga Tukur, was among the oil marketers who were on Thursday arraigned at a Lagos High Court in Ikeja for oil subsidy fraud.

Also arraigned for the alleged fraud totalling N5.6bn were Mamman Ali, son of a former national chairman of the PDP, Ahmadu Ali; and Abdulahi Alao, son of an Ibadan-based businessman, Abdulazeez Arisekola-Alao.

Tukur, Alao, Ochonogo Alex and Eterna Oil and Gas Plc were jointly arraigned before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo on nine counts, including an alleged fraudulent collection of about N1.899bn from the Federal Government as payment for subsidy on Premium Motoring Spirit, a.k.a petrol, which they never supplied.

Also, Alao, along with his company, Axenergy Limited, in a separate charge of seven counts, was arraigned before Justice Habeeb Abiru for alleged subsidy fraud amounting to N1.472bn.

Among the seven counts instituted against the son of the Ibadan businessman before Justice Abiru was one in which he was alleged to have “with intent to defraud attempted to obtain” about N1.168bn by falsely representing the money to be claim for importing 13,364,284 litres of PMS.

Ali, along with a Sierra Leonean, Christian Taylor, and their company Nasaman Oil Services in yet another charge, was arraigned before Onigbanjo on three counts among which the prosecutors said the suspects fraudulently obtained about N2.23bn in the name of subsidy for importing various litres of PMS.

Date for commencement of trial in the joint charge involving Ali and Taylor had been fixed for October 30, while the one involving Tukur, Alex and Alao had been fixed for November 13.

Common to all the charges faced by the accused are the offences ranging from obtaining various sums of money by false pretences, conspiracy to obtain money by false pretences, forgery and attering.

The prosecuting agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, alleged that the accused on different occasions in 2010 and 2011, fraudulently obtained the money from the Federal Government under the Petroleum Support Fund in respect of various litres of PMS which were never supplied.

The anti-graft agency also alleged that in order to facilitate the alleged offences, the accused forged some documents – Bill of Lading and Origin Certificates – which were issued by firms from whom they falsely claimed to have imported the PMS.

The accused were granted bail shortly after their arraignments before Onigbanjo.

However, Alao will not regain his freedom along with others because his bail application before Justice Abiru was not heard on Thursday.

The judge ordered that Alao should remain in custody of the EFCC till August 1, when his bail application would be heard.

Counsel for the EFCC, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, had urged Abiru to turn down the request by Alao’s counsel, Babajide Koku, SAN, for hearing of the bail application on Thursday.

A former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Chief Wole Olanipekun, and Tayo Oyetibo, both SANs, are the lead counsel for Tukur, Alex and Eterna Oil and Gas.

Jacobs had urged the court to refuse hearing the bail application on the grounds that it was not ripe for hearing since he was only served with a copy of it just before the proceedings and as such he needed to be given time to file a written reply to it.

Justice Onigbanjo, however, granted bail based on the same conditions in the two separate charges.

The bail for each of the accused was in the sum of N20m with two sureties in like sum.

Onigbanjo ordered that one of the various sets of two sureties each must be a blood relation with a landed property worth N500m in Lagos. The ownership title documents of such property, which must be verified at the land registry, are to be submitted to the court registrar.

He said the other sureties must be a Grade Level 16 civil servant in the employment of either the Lagos State Government or the Federal Government, and they must provide evidence of tax payment.

He also asked them to deposit their passports with the EFCC officers who must depose to an affidavit of collecting them.

Onigbanjo, who said the essence of granting bail was to ensure that the accused would be available for trial, also asked the court registrar to verify the “residential, business and physical addresses” of the sureties.

Shortly after granting the bail in the charge involving Tukur and Taylor, their counsel, Joe Gadzama, expressed fear of how difficult that Taylor, a citizen of Sierra Leone, might not get a blood relation to stand as surety for him.

The judge then asked him to file an affidavit for variation of the bail conditions.

Meanwhile, the arraignment of another set of oil marketers before Abiru could not hold on Thursday due to the absence of one of the accused, Walter Wagbatsoma.

Others who were charged along with Wagbastoma are Adaoha Ugo-Ngadi, Fakuade Babafemi Ebenezer, and Ontario Oil and Gas Nigeria Limited.

The judge had on Wednesday adjourned till Thursday due to Wagbastoma’s absence in court and upon request by Jacobs that the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, SAN, had indicated interest to lead the prosecution personally.

The minister was also absent in court on Thursday, a development which Jacobs said was due to pressing state assignment.

Jacobs told the court that the minister had asked him to continue with the matter, but the matter was adjourned till Wednesday by the time which Wasgbatsoma would be expected to appear in court.

The offences of the accused were said to violate Sections 1, 1(1)(2) and 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 2006.