The trial of Mamman Nasir Ali who is the son of former PDP National Chairman and Christian Taylor, for an alleged N2.2 billion oil subsidy fraud, could not go on as scheduled today, Wednesday, May 22, 2024 before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, with the defendants expected to open their defence.
This was due to the absence of the substantive prosecuting counsel, S.K. Atteh.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is prosecuting the defendants, alongside Nasaman Oil Services Limited on an amended 49-count charge bordering on conspiracy to obtain money by false pretence ,contrary to Section 8 and 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006; obtaining money by false pretences, contrary to Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006; forgery, contrary to Section 363 (3)(j) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011; and use of false documents contrary to Section 364 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.
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 Limited under the Petroleum Support Fund for the importation of 10,031,986 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), which Nasaman Oil Services Limited purported to have purchased from SEATAC Petroleum Limited of British Virgin Islands and imported into Nigeria through MT Liquid Fortune Limited of British Virgin Islands and imported into Nigeria through MT Liquid Fortune MT Liquid Fortune Limited Ex MT Overseas Lima, which representation you knew to be false.”
They pleaded “not guilty” to all the charges.
At the last sitting on March 26, 2024, Atteh had informed the court that the prosecution was closing its case after the testimony of the 11th prosecution witness, Effa Okim, an investigative officer with the EFCC who at the time of the investigation was one of the team members that probed the allegations against the defendants and some other oil marketers accused of involvement in the oil subsidy fraud.
At today’s proceeding, S.O. Daji, who appeared for the EFCC, informed the court that Atteh was at the Supreme Court for another matter and prayed the court for an adjournment.
There was no objection from the defence. Thereafter, Justice Dada adjourned the matter till July 9 and 10, 2024.
