Court sentences Nigerian fuel subsidy fraudsters to 10 years in prison

Justice Lateefa Okunnu of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja, Nigeria on Thursday sentenced the Managing Director of Ontario Oil and Gas Limited, Mrs. Ada Ugo-Ngali, to a jail term of 10 years for a fuel subsidy fraud of N754m. The judge ordered the refund of the N754m to the Federal Government.Justice Okunnu had on January 13, 2017 convicted Ugo-Ngali, Ontario Oil and Gas Limited and its Chairman, Mr. Walter Wagbatsoma of eight counts pressed against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes. The judge had been unable to pass the sentence on the judgment day as Ugo-Ngali slumped in court after being convicted and just before the judge could pass the sentence. The convict was subsequently rushed out of the courtroom and and taken to Havannah hospital in Surelere from where she was later moved to the intensive care unit of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba.

Ngo-Ngali came to court on Thursday straight from LUTH and on a wheel chair, with plasters on her body. In passing the sentence, Justice Okunnu rejected the plea of the convict’s lawyer, Mr. Edoka Onyeke, praying that the sentence should be non-custodian in view of his client’s health.
“I have considered the plea of the defence counsel for non-custodian sentence of the 2nd defendant. I have to say that the request to grant a non-custodian sentence must be rejected and I can only exercise my discretion on the length of time the convict will spend in prison,” Justice Okunnu held. She subsequently sentenced the convict to a cumulative jail term of 69 years, which would, however, run concurrently for only 10 years. The judge said the jail term would begin to read from January 13, 2017, when Ngo-Ngali and her accomplices were pronounced convicted.
The EFCC had on August 1, 2013 arraigned the Ngo-Ngali, Wagbatsoma and their company, accusing them of defrauding the Federal Government of N1.9bn, which they fraudulently obtained as subsidy sum for purportedly importing Premium Motor Spirit into the country.
Also charged with the three convicts was an official of the Petroleum Products Price and Regulatory Agency, Mr. Babafemi Fakuade, who was, however, discharged and acquitted by the judge on January 13. In finding Wagbatsoma and Ngo-Ngali guilty, Justice Okunnu held, “The defendants defrauded the Federal Government of N340m in the third quarter of 2010 and N414m in the fourth quarter of 2010.


Source: Punch