Economy
How Eterna Oil MD Duped FG with Forged Documents—Witness
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
More revelations are emerging as the trial of those accused of involvement in the subsidy fraud continues.
At the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja presided over by Justice Hakeem Oshodi, a prosecution witness, Abdul-rasheed Bawa, an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), alleged that the Managing Director of Eterna Oil and two others forged 30 documents to defraud the federal government in fuel subsidy.
The trio of Mahmud Tukur, Abdullahi Alao and Ochonoghor Alex and their companies Eterna Plc and Axenergy are being prosecuted by the EFCC for defrauding the government to the tune of N3.12 billion.
The defendants had previously been arraigned before Justice Lawal Akapo on December 10, 2015 for allegedly diverting the money obtained from the Federal Government for the purpose of importing Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
Counsels to the accused had subsequently filed a joint application seeking to quash the charge preferred against their clients by the commission.
According to the EFCC, the defence counsels had argued that the State High Court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter on the grounds that the allegations against them were oil and gas related, which could only be heard by a Federal High Court.
The accused, through their counsels, had also argued that the prosecution could not establish a prima facie case against them.
In his ruling on the application, Justice Oshodi had dismissed the application and upheld the argument of the prosecution.
The judge also held that the prosecution had successfully established a prima facie case against the accused persons and described the application as “premature”.
At the resumed hearing before Justice Oshodi on Friday, November 24, 2017, the defence, again, argued that the prosecution did not have the fiat of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), to prosecute the case.
In his response, the prosecution counsel, Mr Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), however, submitted that he did not have to show the defence the fiat of the AGF to prosecute them.
Mr Jacobs further submitted that he could only show his client, the EFCC and the court the fiat and not the defence counsels.
Justice Oshodi upheld the argument of the prosecution counsel, thereby setting the stage for the prosecution witness, Mr Bawa, to give his evidence against the accused.
The accused, among others, claimed that they had imported and discharged PMS sometime in September, 2011 at a tank farm in Lagos, First Deep Water Discovery Limited, for which they were paid the sum of N626 million subsidy.
Also, the accused said they received the sum of N595 million from the government after claiming to have imported and discharged PMS at the same tank farm in Lagos sometime in October, 2011.
However, the witness, in his testimony, told the court how the accused, without any fuel importation, forged over 30 documents and submitted same to the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), to fraudulently obtain the subsidy for importation of PMS in 2011.
Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, the witness said: “The owner of the vessel, MT Deepwater EX MT Valle Di Castiglia, and the claimed tank farm of discharge, First Deep Water Discovery Limited, denied the usage of their vessel for the transaction and also confirmed forgery of documents submitted by Eternal to PPPRA.
“The EFCC had access to Lloyds List Intelligence and search conducted for the movement of MT Valle Di Castiglia revealed that the vessel was at the Republic of Turkey all through the period that Eternal claimed to have taken PMS from it with MT Deepwater. So, how can a vessel that was in Turkey give products to another vessel in offshore Cotonou?”
Giving further evidence on both MT Fulmar Ex MT Emirates Star and MT Panther EX MT Emirates Star, the witness said the modus operandi employed by the defendants to defraud the government was alteration of bills of loading dates resulting in higher costs of importation.
He said: “The claimed MT Emirates has a bill of lading dated 28 April, 2011 which gave Eternal a loading cost of about N151.
“However, investigation revealed that the actual mother vessel for the transaction is MT GonHild Kirk, which had a bill of loading with the date of April 3, 2011, with landing cost of about N141.
“The government, acting on forged importation documents indicating MT Emirates Star, paid Eternal about N3.3 billion instead of N2.9 billion. Thus Eterna Oil was overpaid about N300 million.
He added that search on LLyods Intelligence on Emirates Star indicated that the vessel sailed out of Doven Strait, United Kingdom and arrived New York, USA within the period that the Eternal documents claimed that the vessel was discharging its products into MT Fuliman and MT Panthern.
The case was adjourned to February 26, 2018 for continuation of trial.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Vice President, Mr Kashim Shettima, inaugurated the Board of the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP) and gave a 50 per cent access target for workers, saying consumer credit was critical to Nigeria’s ambition of becoming a one-trillion-dollar economy by 2030.
According to him, President Bola Tinubu established the CREDICORP to build a trusted credit infrastructure, provide catalytic capital to lower borrowing costs, and help Nigerians overcome long-standing cultural resistance to credit.
Speaking on Thursday in Abuja when he inaugurated the board on behalf of the President, the Vice President, in a statement by his spokesman, Mr Stanley Nkwocha, said that the quality of life of Nigerians cannot improve without closing the gap between access to capital and human dignity.
“A civil servant who earns honestly does not have to chase sudden wealth just to buy a vehicle, or save for ten years to buy one. A young professional should not remain in darkness simply because solar power must be paid for all at once,” the Vice President said.
VP Shettima disclosed that in just one year of operations, CREDICORP has disbursed over ₦37 billion in consumer credit to more than 200,000 Nigerians, with over half of them accessing formal credit for the first time.
The Vice President said the organisation was specifically tasked with building credit infrastructure to bridge the trust gap between lenders and borrowers, providing wholesale capital and credit guarantees through its portfolio company.
“Ultimately, these critical jobs of CREDICORP will enable access to consumer credit to at least 50 per cent of working Nigerians by 2030,” he said.
The Vice President explained that the new board’s role was not ceremonial as they are custodians of the organisation’s mission, adding that the long-term strength of the institution would depend on their “vigilance, integrity, sacrifice, and commitment.”
He directed Board members to uphold Public Service Rules, the Board Charter, and all applicable governance frameworks, warning that accountability and stewardship of public resources were non-negotiable.
The Chairman of CREDICORP, Mr Aderemi Abdul, expressed appreciation to President Tinubu for his vision behind the formation of CREDICORP and for the confidence reposed in them, noting that the establishment of the corporation marked an important step towards strengthening the nation’s financial architecture.
He assured President Tinubu that the board understands its responsibility and will guide the institution to deliver meaningful benefits to Nigerians.
For his part, Mr Uzoma Nwagba, Managing Director/CEO of CREDICORP, recalled watching President Tinubu say 20 years ago that consumer credit is one of the major tools that will improve the lives of Nigerians.
He noted that over the past 18 months, the institution has benefited more than 200,000 Nigerians, including students.
He assured that the presidential vision behind CREDICORP would not be taken lightly, as the team considers their appointments a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Other members of the board inaugurated include Mrs Olanike Kolawole, Executive Director, Operations; Mrs Aisha Abdullahi, Executive Director, Credit and Portfolio Management; Mr Armstrong Ume-Takang (MD, MoFI), Representative of MoFI; Mrs Bisoye Coke-Odusote (DG, NIMC), Representative of NIMC; and Mr Mohammed Naziru Abbas, Representative of FMITI.
Others are Mr Marvin Nadah, Representative of FCCPC; Mrs Chinonyelum Ndidi, Representative of the Federal Ministry of Finance; Mr Mohammed Abbas Jega, Independent Director; and Mrs Toyin Adeniji, Independent Director.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Six price gainers helped the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange retain its stay in green territory after a 0.23 per cent appreciation on Thursday, February 26.
The price gainers were led by Nipco Plc, which added N25.00 to close at N278.00 per share compared with the previous day’s N253.00 per share, NASD Plc rose by N5.13 to N56.41 per unit versus N51.28 per unit, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc expanded by N2.24 to N102.44 per share from N100.00 per share, Afriland Properties Plc grew by 88 Kobo to N18.88 per unit from N18.00 per unit, 11 Plc increased by 35 Kobo to N277.00 per share from N276.65 per share, and Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC) Plc gained 27 Kobo to close at N3.75 per unit versus N3.48 per unit.
On the flip side, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc lost N1.75 to sell at N68.25 per share versus N70.00 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc depreciated by 2 Kobo to N3.25 per unit from N3.27 per unit.
The weight of the advancers fortified the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 9.21 points to 4,034.46 points from 4,025.25 points, and the market capitalisation soared by N5.51 billion to N2.413 trillion from Wednesday’s N2.408 trillion.
Yesterday, the transaction value jumped by 18.8 per cent to N102.8 million from N80.7 million, and the number of deals surged by 18,8 per cent to 38 deals from 32 deals, while the transaction volume went down by 84.9 per cent to 1.3 million units from 8.7 million units.
At the close of business, CSCS Plc was the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 34.2 million units worth N2.04 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 6.3 million units sold for N1.1 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 122.1 million units valued at N478.2 million.
Resourcery Plc remained as the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.05 billion units exchanged for N408.7 million, trailed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 122.1 million worth N478.2 million, and CSCS Plc with 34.2 million units traded for N2.04 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira further weakened against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) for the fourth straight session this week on Thursday, February 26.
At the official market yesterday, the Nigerian Naira lost N3.71 or 0.27 per cent to trade at N1,359.82/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,356.11/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window on Thursday by N8.27 to close at N1,843.23/£1 versus Wednesday’s closing price of N1,834.96/£1, and against the Euro, it crashed by N8.30 to quote at N1,606.89/€1, in contrast to the midweek’s closing price of N1,598.59/€1.
But at the GTBank forex desk, the exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar remained unchanged at N1,367/$1, and also at the parallel market, it maintained stability at N1,365/$1.
The continuation of the decline of the Nigerian currency is attributed to a surge in foreign payments that have outpaced the available Dollars in the FX market.
In a move to address the ongoing shortfall at the official window, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervened by selling $100 million to banks and dealers on Tuesday.
However, the FX support failed to reverse the trend, though analysts see no cause for alarm, given that the authority recently mopped up foreign currency to achieve balance and it is still within the expected trading range of N1,350 and N1,450/$1.
As for the cryptocurrency market, major tokens posted losses over the last 24 hours as traders continued to de-risk alongside equities following Nvidia’s earnings-driven pullback, with Ripple (XRP) down by 2.7 per cent to $1.40, and Dogecoin (DOGE) down by 1.6 per cent to $0.0098.
Further, Litecoin (LTC) declined by 1.3 per cent to $55.87, Ethereum (ETH) slipped by 0.9 per cent to $2,036.89, Bitcoin (BTC) tumbled by 0.7 per cent to $67,708.21, Cardano (ADA) slumped by 0.6 per cent to $0.2924, and Solana (SOL) depreciated by 0.4 per cent to $87.22, while Binance Coin (BNB) gained 0.4 per cent to sell for $629.95, with the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closing flat at $1.00 each.
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