with Justice C.A. Balogun of a Lagos State High Court, Ikeja admitting
in evidence more documents against him.The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC is prosecuting
Peters, alongside his company, Nababo Energy Limited, for allegedly
obtaining N1, 464,961,978.24 from the Federal Government as oil subsidy
using forged documents.
They pleaded “not guilty” to the charge preferred against them.
At today’s sitting, Justice Balogun admitted in evidence, two letters
from Q & Q Services Nigeria Limited written to the EFCC in response to
two investigation letters earlier sent to the company by the anti-graft
agency with regards to the transactions.
The two letters dated 20th March 2013 and 28th March 2013 were tendered
in evidence by S.K. Atteh, the prosecuting counsel through the fifth
prosecution witness, Abdulrasheed Bawa.
Identifying the documents, Bawa, an EFCC operative told the Court that
the two letters from Q & Q Services Nigeria Limited were in response to
the request of the EFCC to furnish it with the documents relating to
transaction involving Nadabo Energy Limited.
According to Bawa, after studying the documents submitted to the
Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, indicating that the
defendant imported about 14,000 metric tonnes of PMS, the EFCC wrote an
investigation activities letters to Q & Q Control Services Limited
requesting for the authentication of the documents.
“Q & Q Control Services Limited responded via their letters dated 20th
March 2013 and 28th March 2013 and attached several documents that were
requested,” he said.
Atteh tendered the original copies of the letters.
No objection was raised from the defence counsel, Habeeb Oredola, who
held the brief of J.B. Daudu.
Justice Balogun, thereafter admitted them in evidence as Exhibit L1 and
L2.
The trial judge, also admitted in evidence as Exhibit K1 and K2, the
copies of the two investigation letters written by the EFCC to the Q & Q
Control Services Limited to which the company responded to through
Exhibit L1 and L2.
Testifying, further, Bawa noted that Q & Q was contacted to confirm the
genuineness or otherwise of the documents submitted by the defendant to
PPPRA for the transaction.
He explained that from the analysis of the response, “we found out that
contrary to the claim of the defendant as par Exhibit B, which they
submitted to PPPRA to claim subsidy, the defendant imported only 4,850
metric tonnes of PMS as opposed to 14,000 metric tonnes that he claimed
to have imported.”
According to him, following up on the investigation, the Q & Q Control
Services Nigeria Limited was further requested to furnish the EFCC with
all the shipping documents in respect of the ship-to-ship transfer.
He told the Court that the analysis of the shipping documents further
confirmed that the defendant only imported 4,850MT contrary to the claim
of the defendant.
Further testifying, he said, “We also found out that Staco Insurance
purportedly issued a certificate of marine insurance for this
transaction.
“We made a copy of it and wrote an investigation activities letter to
the insurance company attaching the said certificate with number
0047851.
“They acknowledged receipt and responded to our request in writing in
which they confirmed that the attached certificate was forged.
“However, also attached to their response was a copy of the authentic
certificate of insurance with the same number issued to the defendant.
“We studied the response and wrote another letter to Staco Insurance Plc
requesting for the company to furnish us with the documents submitted by
the defendant for the purpose of acquiring the insurance.”
Bawa told the Court that the insurance company responded in writing
attaching copies of the requested documents, including the proforma
invoice given to the defendant by Petrocam.
He, thereafter, identified the copies of the letters written to the
insurance company and the responses received by the EFCC.
However, when the prosecution sought to tender them in evidence, the
defence team raised objection to their “admissibility and tendering”.
Thereafter, Justice Balogun adjourned till February 2, 2021 for “ruling
and continuation of hearing”.
Kwara Bursary Scam: N100million Shared Without List of Beneficiaries
Trial in the alleged mismanagement of scholarship funds to the tune of
N100million involving the immediate past chairperson of Kwara State
Scholarship Board, Hajia Fatimoh Yusuf and two other principal officers
of the Board resumed on Tuesday, January 26, 2021 with a prosecution
witness, Lawal Abdulwahab, telling Justice Sikiru Oyinloye of the Kwara
State High Court sitting in Ilorin that, he never saw the list of the
beneficiaries of the 2018 bursary allowances.
The Ilorin Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,
EFCC, is prosecuting Hajia Yusuf, alongside the Executive Secretary of
the Board, Fatai Lamidi and its Accountant, Ajewole Stephen, on a seven
count charge bordering on stealing and fraudulent diversion of public
funds.
The three officers of the Board allegedly diverted state funds to the
tune of N100million earmarked by government of the Kwara State in 2017
and 2018 for payment of bursary allowances to students of the state in
various tertiary institutions.
Testifying, Abdulwahab stated that his bank was commissioned to be in
charge of payment of the allowances to respective beneficiaries of the
scheme, but was never provided with the list.
Abdulwahab, who was the Head of Operations in a new generation bank
testified as PW 8.
He said: “My Lord, sometime in 2018, the management of the Scholarship
Board approached our bank for cheque discounting in the payment of
bursary allowances to students of Kwara origin studying in various
tertiary institutions. The bank managing director and I held a meeting
with the management of Scholarship Board where we agreed to charge the
sum of N100 (one hundred naira) from each of the cheque as interest. We
were to pay cash of N5, 000 (five thousand naira only) to ten thousand
Students.
The PW8 told the court that officials of the bank followed personnel of
the Board to Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH,
Ogbomoso, but had what he described as ‘terrible experience’.
According to him, the place was rowdy and insecure. Abdulwahab stated
that a report of what happened was forwarded to the bank following which
the bank threatened to back out, a decision he said led to another
arrangement of providing cash without the officials of the bank
following them to field.
Testifying further, the witness narrated how the bank provided cash of
N5, 000 to ten thousand students and how the Scholarship Board’s
management issued them cheque in return. He told the court that the
cheques were not forged.
Under cross-examination, Abdulwahab insisted that he neither sighted the
list of beneficiaries at the Office of the Kwara State Scholarship Board
nor at the EFCC where he was invited to give statement on the matter.
The witness stated that all that transpired between his bank and the
management of the Kwara State Scholarship Board were normal banking
standards, which followed the due process.
The prosecution witness further stressed the fact that his bank’s cash
officials no longer followed personnel of the Scholarship Board to the
field after that experience at LAUTECH, for security reasons.
After his testimonies, Justice Oyinloye discharged the witness and
adjourned till February 17, 2021 for further hearing.