EFCC faults nationality claims of subsidy fraud suspect
EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde
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The
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission at a Lagos High Court in Ikeja
on Monday pointed out contradictions in the nationality claims by a
suspect on the fuel subsidy fraud, Mr. Christian Taylor, who was
arraigned on Thursday.
Taylor, along with Mamman Ali, son of Ahmadu Ali, a
former Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, and their
company, Nasaman Oil Services, was arraigned before Justice Adeniyi
Onigbanjo on three counts of fuel subsidy fraud involving N2.23bn.
Shortly after the accused were granted bail, their
counsel, Joe Gadzama, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, had urged the court
to vary one of the bail conditions requiring that the accused must
provide two sureties, one of whom must be his blood relation residing in
Lagos.
Gadzma urged the court to vary the bail condition on
the grounds that the accused is a Sierra Leonean and as such it might be
difficult for him to get any of his relatives living in the state.
The judge then asked him to file an application for variation of the bail condition.
However, at the Monday’s proceedings, counsel for the
EFCC, Rotimi Jacobs, said he needed to oppose the application in view
of records at his disposal showing that the accused had claimed to hail
from Edo State.
Jacobs said, “In a statement attached to the proof of
evidence, he claimed to be from Edo State. This is a statement written
by himself in his handwriting.
“To now turn around and say he is from Sierra Leone
surprises me. Even in his asset declaration form, he said his father was
from Edo State.
“If he is not stable at this level, I wonder what it will be like if he is totally released.”
The judge adjourned till Wednesday for hearing of the application.
Date for commencement of trial in the joint charge involving Ali and Taylor was fixed for October 30.
Meanwhile, the EFCC on Monday arraigned two additional suspects who were fingered in the fuel subsidy scam.
The accused, Oluwaseun Ogunbambo and Habila Theck,
along with their firm, Fargo Energy Limited, were arraigned on six
counts involving fraudulent collection of N976.6m from the Federal
Government.
They were said to have collected the money from the
Federal Government on February 2012 as payment for importation of about
13,627,084 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol), a representation
which the EFCC said the accused knew was false.
Justice Onigbanjo ordered that the accused be
remanded in the custody of the EFCC till Wednesday when their bail
application would be argued.
