Adaoha Ugo-Ngadi of Ontario Oil
The trial of high profile subsidy fraud suspect, Walter Wagbatsoma, was today rocked by another bombshell: that the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency [PPPRA], and the federal government's official accounting firm, Akintola Williams Deloitte, aided the N1.9 billion fraud through sustained neglect.
Shehu Mohammed, an investigator of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told the court that the accountant and the PPPRA both neglected their duty to monitor and audit the discharge of the purportedly imported petroleum products. They therefore misled the government to pay oil marketers the bloated subsidy claims with no proper auditing or monitoring before issuing a clean bill to them for payment.
This testimony is similar to an earlier revelation by another witness in the case of another notorious subsidy fraud suspect, Seun Ogunbambo, where the witness disclosed that the PPPRA rather than verify the certificates of fuel importation presented by oil marketers to claim payments, simply helped them to process the payments 'on the basis of trust.'
On January 24, Victor Zamani and Tope Ogundola of the PPPRA, while giving evidence at the Ikeja High Court in the trial of Rowaye Jubril, the Executive Director of Brila Energy Limited, scandalously explained to Justice Lateefat Okunnu simply receives photocopies of documents to satisfy that the marketers have satisfied the requirements, but that no effort is made to authenticate the documents.
As the Wagbatsoma trial continued before Justice Okunnu today, Mohammed told the court that the PPPRA's duty included recommending to the Federal Government the amount to be paid based to the marketers following their verification of the volume of imports actually imported, but that the PPPRA may be cutting collaborative 'trust' without deals without actually authenticating the claims by the marketers.
Wagbatsoma is being tried alongside his fellow suspects: Adaoha Ugo-Ngadi, Fakuade Babafemi Ebenezer, Ezekiel Olaleye Ejidele, and their company, Ontario Oil and Gas, for duping the PSF of the nearly two billion dollars under the guise of importing 39.2 million liters of PMS, but without actually importing a single liter.
Mr. Mohammed disclosed that the Federal Government has paid bloated sum to the oil marketers to the corresponding tune of cumulatively claimed 16 million litres of fuel purportedly imported.
"Akintola Williams Deloitte which is the government appointed-auditor that was supposed to guide the Federal Government recommended the inflated amount. They sent one Danjuma to witness the Ship to Ship Transfer", the EFCC witness disclosed.
A source in the EFCC told Saharareporters that most of the marketers indulge in buying some quantities of petroleum products locally, which would then be shipped to a tank farm, and then claim to have imported same in order to claim subsidy payment.
From his testimony, it could be deduced that empty vessels sometimes arrived at tank farm to deceive the PPPRA and other involved verification agencies that fuel has actually been imported. The agency’s witness would see the vessel arriving, but not monitor the transfer of the purported content.
"Mr. Fakuade sent by PPPRA, only witnessed the arrival haulage of the daughter vessel but did not witness the actual discharging," Mohammed continued, stating further that the government-appointed auditor relied on the document supplied by a third party instead of being at the ship-to-ship transfer up to the point of discharge at the tank farm.
"The actual discharging is what is supposed to be the basis for paying subsidy", he stressed.
The EFCC further testified that it investigated off-shore corporations including the Inspectorate Marine Insurance to verify claims that the mother vessels the fuel was purported to be emanating from, but the logs of the corporations revealed that the claimed mother vessels where never shipping fuel at the times they claimed. In addition, the corporations also dismissed copies of quantity, quality and insurance certificates presented by the marketers to the Federal Government for claiming subsidy fund as fake, pointing out that they never issued the certificates to the firms at any time. Apart from this dismissal that the oil marketers' certificates were forged, it also buttressed the testimony that the PPPRA in essence, does not verify documents presented by the oil marketers, but merely helped them process to their bloated subsidy claims.
While Wagbatsoma and his cohorts undergo “trial,” it is to be noted that he personally has deep connections with top-brass in the presidency. If their game plans work out, this trial, it is feared will fizzle out in no time.
The trial judge has adjourned till July
Source: Sahara Reporters
No comments:
Post a Comment