An oil marketer, Ms. Adaoha Ugo-Ndagi has told a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja that the N1.9 billion subsidy fraud charge preferred against her and three others were false.
Ms. Ugo-Ndagi, Managing Director of Ontario Oil and Gas Limited, who was testifying before Justice Lateefa Okunnu, maintained that the allegations was an attempt to settle old scores between Ontario and two other key players in the industry.
She urged the court to discharge and acquit herself, Ontario and Mr Walter Wagbatsoma, the Executive Director of the firm, of the nine-count charge of conspiracy, obtaining property by false pretences, forgery and uttering.
Led in evidence by the defence counsel, Mr Edoka Onyeke, Ms. Ugo-Ndagi, said she had never met the third defendant, Mr Fakuade Babafemi, a staff of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Authority (PPPRA), until they were arraigned in court.
She said:"I have never seen him in my life before. The first time I met him was when we were brought before the court.
"So, how can somebody now claim that we conspired with him to forge documents to fraudulently obtain subsidy from the government?"
The witness maintained that the company imported 19 million and 15 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit in the third quarter of 2010 and the transaction followed the stipulated guidelines of the PPPRA.
According to Ms. Ugo-Ndagi, the documents used for the transactions were signed by all the relevant agencies including the PPPRA, Department of Petroleum Resources,DPR, Navy, Immigration, Customs, Ontario surveyors and surveyors representing Obat and Integrated tank farms.
She said it was therefore strange that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) relied on Shore Tank Certificates signed only by both tank farms and their surveyors to institute a criminal charge against the defendants that they imported 12 and 10 million litres respectively.
The witness said:"I was not surprised that these tank farms were used by the EFCC to try and substantiate their charge against us.
"Issues of discrepancy happens everyday in the industry and parties find ways to resolve them. We have had issues with them in the past and have even taken one of them to court for selling our product without authorisation.
"So,If there were issues in the transactions, the tank farms ought to have notified us but nothing like that was done."
She further told the court that their accusers failed to produce the waybills and truck out tickets used for the transactions to substantiate the allegations.
"Both of them could not produce their waybills. They could not produce the tickets. Everybody who handled these operations miraculously disappeared,"Ugo-Ndagi, said.
Earlier in a cross examination by the prosecution counsel, Mr Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, the witness re-affirmed that on several occasions, players in the industry do have variations in figures, which most times resolved.
The matter was adjourned till February 8,2016 for continuation of cross examinations of the witness by the EFCC counsel, Mr Rotimi Jacobs, SAN.
Ms. Ugo-Ndagi, Managing Director of Ontario Oil and Gas Limited, who was testifying before Justice Lateefa Okunnu, maintained that the allegations was an attempt to settle old scores between Ontario and two other key players in the industry.
She urged the court to discharge and acquit herself, Ontario and Mr Walter Wagbatsoma, the Executive Director of the firm, of the nine-count charge of conspiracy, obtaining property by false pretences, forgery and uttering.
Led in evidence by the defence counsel, Mr Edoka Onyeke, Ms. Ugo-Ndagi, said she had never met the third defendant, Mr Fakuade Babafemi, a staff of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Authority (PPPRA), until they were arraigned in court.
She said:"I have never seen him in my life before. The first time I met him was when we were brought before the court.
"So, how can somebody now claim that we conspired with him to forge documents to fraudulently obtain subsidy from the government?"
The witness maintained that the company imported 19 million and 15 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit in the third quarter of 2010 and the transaction followed the stipulated guidelines of the PPPRA.
According to Ms. Ugo-Ndagi, the documents used for the transactions were signed by all the relevant agencies including the PPPRA, Department of Petroleum Resources,DPR, Navy, Immigration, Customs, Ontario surveyors and surveyors representing Obat and Integrated tank farms.
She said it was therefore strange that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) relied on Shore Tank Certificates signed only by both tank farms and their surveyors to institute a criminal charge against the defendants that they imported 12 and 10 million litres respectively.
The witness said:"I was not surprised that these tank farms were used by the EFCC to try and substantiate their charge against us.
"Issues of discrepancy happens everyday in the industry and parties find ways to resolve them. We have had issues with them in the past and have even taken one of them to court for selling our product without authorisation.
"So,If there were issues in the transactions, the tank farms ought to have notified us but nothing like that was done."
She further told the court that their accusers failed to produce the waybills and truck out tickets used for the transactions to substantiate the allegations.
"Both of them could not produce their waybills. They could not produce the tickets. Everybody who handled these operations miraculously disappeared,"Ugo-Ndagi, said.
Earlier in a cross examination by the prosecution counsel, Mr Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, the witness re-affirmed that on several occasions, players in the industry do have variations in figures, which most times resolved.
The matter was adjourned till February 8,2016 for continuation of cross examinations of the witness by the EFCC counsel, Mr Rotimi Jacobs, SAN.
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