Subsidy scam: How company supplied 6.7m litres, claimed 19m litres from FG — Witness

BY: Oliseama Okwuchukwu

A prosecution witness, Chidi Nweke, has told an FCT High Court, sitting in Apo, Abuja, how Adegbite Adetoye and Ponle Abiodun, two Directors of Origin Oil and Gas Limited, lied and defrauded the Federal Government to the tune of over N735 million in subsidy scam.

At the resumed hearing of the case on Tuesday before Justice Silvanus Oriji, the operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Steve Odiase, said the accused lied over the quantity of petrol they supplied to the Federal Government in 2011.

The witness produced in court a letter that flowed from investigative activities of the EFCC to Quantity Marine Services Nigeria Limited to authenticate the short tank quantity certificate, which indicated that 19 million litres was purportedly supplied as against 6,784,921 litres, which investigations revealed was actually supplied.

Under cross-examination by the defence counsel, Israel Olorundare (SAN), Nweke maintained that the defendants and the company involved did not supply the quantity of PMS they claimed they supplied.

The document from the defendants claimed that about 19 million litres of PMS was transhipped from MT Champion Express to MT Silverie at Offshore Cotonou, while investigations revealed that the actual quantity discharged was 6,784,921 litres of PMS, the witness said.

Olorundare tendered documents from the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency, titled: “Checklist,” which was admitted by the court in evidence.

Justice Oriji adjourned the matter to May 6 and 7, 2019 for further hearing.