As the trial of suspects involved in the fuel subsidy scam continues in Nigeria, a witness has told an Ikeja, Lagos High Court how Mamman Ali, the son of former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Ahmadu Ali, forged the documents with which he fraudulently received the sum of N4.4 billion as payment for subsidy of premium motor spirit better known as petrol.
Chidi Onyedikwe, while testifying at the resumed trial of Mamman on Wednesday, explained to the court what he knew about the forged documents. Under cross-examination by counsels to the defendants; Kolade Obafemi, and Adebayo Adenipekun, Mr. Onyedikwe, who is the Lagos branch manager of Inspectorate Marine Services Nigeria Ltd, explained that his company did not issue the documents with which Mamman carried out the alleged fraudulent transactions.
According to him, the documents in question, which included cargo transfer, certificate of quantity, certificate of quality and haulage, all bearing the logos, signatures and stamps of his company were fraudulent.
He said he has taken enough time to go through operational records, the company’s laboratory records and account records with other staff, before realizing that, “those documents did not emanate from our company even though they were bearing our logos, stamps and signatures.”
He denied claims in the haulage report that showed that the defendants had imported the petroleum products and that his company had inspected the products stressing that his company did not assign any of its inspectors to carry out the said transaction. The case has been adjourned to May 28 by Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo, the presiding judge.
The accused was charged alongside Christian Taylor, a Sierra Leonean; Oluwaseun Ogunbambo, an oil marketer; and Nassaman Oil Services and Mr. Onyedikwe had on February 21, testified that the defendants used fraudulent documents to obtain the subsidy funds.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission which arraigned the defendants had claimed that they presented the documents to the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, to obtain the subsidy.
