Headlines
Abubakar Ali Peters, Nadabo Energy boss, on trial over alleged N1.4bn oil subsidy scam.

Owolola Adebola
The ongoing trial of Abubakar Ali Peters and his company, Nadabo Energy Limited, for alleged N1.4billion fraud, before Justice C.A. Balogun of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos continued on Tuesday, November 16, 2021, with the Court admitting in evidence all the documents tendered by the prosecution against the defendants.
Abubakar and his company are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,(EFCC) for allegedly using forged documents to obtain N1,464,961,978.24 from the Federal Government as oil subsidy, after allegedly inflating the quantity of Premium Motor Spirit, (PMS) purportedly imported and supplied by the company.
They pleaded “not guilty” to the charges preferred against them.
The prosecution counsel, S.K. Atteh, had, at the sitting on March 10, 2021, sought to tender correspondences between the EFCC and Petrocam Trading PYT Limited as well as the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in relation to the alleged fraud.
He had sought to tender them through the Executive Chairman of EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, who is the fifth prosecution witness and the lead investigator.
The Defence team, led by E.O. Isiramen, had, however, raised objections to the admissibility of the documents, citing several authorities, including Section 83 of the Evidence Act.
He had argued that the documents sought to be tendered were being brought to the knowledge of the defence, during the pendancy of the trial, several years after the case had already commenced.
“The defence should not be taken by surprise,” he had said.
In his response, Atteh had cited several authorities, arguing that, “the difference here is that the documents were not just created by the time they were included as additional proof of evidence”.
Delivering the ruling today, Justice Balogun dismissed the objections raised by the defence as lacking in merit.
With regard to the correspondence between the EFCC and Petrocam, Justice Balogun held that “The documents sought to be tendered were already in existence before this case was filed.
“Petrocam only gave documents of what already took place to the EFCC; and so, there is no surprise for the defence.”
On the objections raised to the admissibility of the correspondence between the EFCC and the CAC, the Judge reminded the defence of its ruling on February 2, 2021 on a similar argument still being canvassed and said: “The Court is still bound by its ruling in relation to certifying officers and payment for certification and shall abide by its earlier ruling. And so, in the circumstance, the objection is overruled.”
Thereafter, the letters of investigation activities written by the EFCC to Petrocam and the CAC as well as the responses from the two agencies were admitted in evidence against the defendants as exhibits O4, O5 and O51.
Testifying further, Bawa told the Court that the correspondences were thoroughly studied in the course of the investigation.
He also told the court that the correspondences further unearthed several activities embarked upon to defraud the Federal Government in fuel subsidy funds.
He said: “We studied the responses from Petrocam and found out that, contrary to the claim of the defendant that Ashland Energy SA was the supplier, it was Petrocam Trading PYT Limited that supplied about 4,500MT equivalent to about 6.5million litres of PMS as against the claim of about 14,000MT of PMS equivalent to about 19.8million litres purportedly supplied by the defendant.
“The response also confirmed to us that the Letter of Credit (LC) No. SPG/DLC/11/0013 is actually in favour of Petrocam and not Ashland Energy as claimed by the defendant’s purported documents.
“We also found out that the daughter vessel, MT St Vanessa, received the product on 2nd December 2011 from a mother vessel, MT Eviridiki, which was contrary to the claim by the defendant that, on the 2nd of December 201, MT Vanessa received the products from MT American Express.”
“The correspondence with the CAC”, he said, “confirmed that Abubakar was among the shareholders and directors of the company and that indeed the company was duly registered.”
In furtherance of the investigation and fallout of the correspondence with Petrocam, Bawa said letters of investigation activities were sent to Enterprise Bank Limited, requesting to be furnished with the copies of instruments used for the utilisation of certain funds in the account of the first defendant.
He further said: “The bank received our original letter, acknowledged the copy and accordingly responded to our letter in writing, attaching copies of the requested documents.
“We equally wrote another investigation letter to Skye Bank Plc for copies of the account opening documents and the statement of account of the first defendant.
“The bank duly acknowledged receipt and also responded in writing, attaching all the requested documents as well as Certificate of Identification.
“We studied the statement of account and found out that the said account is the account that received the subsidy payment of more than N1.4billion on 4th April 2012 in favour of the transaction in the matter before this honourable court.”
According to him, further analysis indicated that “the entire subsidy payment received was utilised by the defendant, including a huge transfer of N850million to Enterprise Bank, which we found out to be for the liquidation of the LC raised in favour of Petrocam for the actual transaction that took place.”
He further testified that “then Spring Bank was approached by the defendant to finance the said importation.
“The bank agreed and raised the Letter of Credit valued at $4.8million In favour of Petrocam.”
According to him, the investigation showed that the defendant reached out to one Mr. Jide Offor Akpan of International Maritime and Shipping Ltd, who helped to charter MT St Vanessa, adding that “It was the same vessel that received 6.5million litres on 2nd December 2011 from Petrocam based on the LC that was raised.
“We found out that Q & Q Control Services Limited was engaged by the defendant to witness the ship-to-ship transfer of 6.5million litres or about 4,500MT of PMS from MT Eviridiki into MT St Vanessa.
“We also found out that St Vanessa only picked products from MT Eviridiki on 2nd December 2011 of 6.5million litres and discharged the same on behalf of the defendant at Masters Energy depot in Port Harcourt.”
According to him, the findings were contrary to the claims in the documents submitted by the defendant to the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).
Thereafter, Atteh sought to tender the correspondences between the EFCC and Enterprise Bank as well as Skye Bank.
However, though Isiramen did not object to the admissibility of the EFCC letters, he objected to the admissibility of the responses from the two banks.
Following the arguments by the defence and prosecution, citing several authorities, Justice Balogun adjourned till December 7, 2021, for “ruling and continuation of trial”.
Headlines
Edward Osagie, NIMASA spokesman, shines at 2025 National Spokespersons’ Awards in Abuja

–— emerges outstanding spokesperson in Marine and Blue Economy sector
Oyewale emerged winner in a highly competitive category that included Presidential Spokesman, Mr. Bayo Onanuga and Josephine Adokuru Mudasiru of the Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA.
The Chairman of the award’s Adjudication Committee, Dr. Shaibu Husseini, while commending the nominees, emphasized that the selection process was rigorous and driven by merit.
Oyewale stood out for his infusion of finesse in strategic communication, skillful workmanship, impactful media engagements and consistency in the excellent projection of the EFCC’s image and in enhancing public understanding of the Commission’s mandate and activities.
Other winners from other categories include: Olufemi Soneye (NNPCL) as Distinguished Spokesperson of the Year (Oil and Gas), Nigerian Customs Service as Best Corporate Spokesperson Team, Kashifu Inuwa (NITDA) as Most Supportive CEO to Spokespersons (Public Sector), Femi Babafemi (NDLEA) as Outstanding Spokesperson (Security Services).
Soneye (NNPCL) beat ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi of Nigeria Police, Igo Weli-Shell Petroleum, Olumuyiwa Akande, SIFAX Group and Osagie Edward-NIMASA to emerge Spokesperson of the Year.
In his remarks, Joshua Audu Gana, Member House of Representatives congratulated the organizers for identifying and rewarding the outstanding communicators across various sectors.
The Special Guest of Honour, Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Akintunde Rotimi Jr, emphasized the need for institutions and organizations to involve spokespersons in policy formulation and decision-making processes, noting that spokespersons should be equipped with first-hand knowledge of key issues so as to enhance their effective and accurate public communication.
The National Spokespersons Awards is Nigeria’s foremost platform for celebration of excellence in public relations, strategic communication, and media management.
The award is an annual celebration of individuals and organizations that demonstrate professionalism, innovation, and impactful public communication.
Customs
Agricultural produce tops exports of 11,459 containers worth $986.4m through Apapa port in three months

Headlines
Stakeholders caution Nigeria over currency swap deal with China

-
Headlines3 months ago
UNODC seeks strategic partnership with EFCC
-
Customs3 months ago
Onyeka, Tin Can CAC, set to pursue revenue generation aggressively
-
Headlines3 months ago
Tinubu appoints Opeifa as MD, Nigeria Railway Corporation
-
Customs3 months ago
Nigeria Customs seeks stakeholders’ support as it launches AOE programme in February
-
Headlines3 months ago
EFCC discovers Yahoo training school in Benin city
-
Headlines2 months ago
Ubong Essien lectures real estate industry operators on opportunities in blue economy