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Akintola Williams, PPPRA responsible for subsidy overpayments – EFCC

By on May 11, 2013

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has accused a leading accounting firm in the country, Akintola Williams Deloitte, and the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency, of misleading the Federal Government to overpay some oil marketers under the subsidy scheme.

The anti-graft agency made this allegation on Friday at the ongoing trial of some oil marketers before Justice Lateefat Okunnu of a Lagos High Court, Ikeja.

The commission said the PPPRA and Akintola Williams Deloitte, which is the Federal Government-appointed auditor for the fuel subsidy scheme, were both meant to witness the ship-ship-transfer of the product up to the point of discharging it in Nigeria.

It added that the organisations were also to recommend to the Federal Government what ought to be paid to marketers based on the volume of fuel the oil marketers actually discharged in Nigeria.

But EFCC said on Friday that the representatives of the organisations gave the Federal Government the inflated figures of the volume of petrol, thereby misleading the government to overpay the oil marketers for cumulative of 16 million litres of fuel.

The accused – Walter Wagbatsoma, Adaoha Ugo-Ngadi, Fakuade Babafemi, Ezekiel Ejidele and their firm, Ontario Oil and Gas Ltd – are facing trial for alleged N1.9bn subsidy fraud charges.

EFCC’s second prosecution witness in the case, Mr. Shehu Mohammed, testifying on Friday, said both Akintola Williams Deloitte’s representative and PPPRA’s agent did not witness the discharging of the product in Nigeria as they ought to.

Mohammed, led in evidence by EFCC counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), said the organisations only relied on the inflated figures supplied to them by “third party”.

“Akintola Williams Deloitte which is the government appointed-auditor that was supposed to guide the Federal Government recommended the inflated amount. They sent one Danjuma to witness the Ship to Ship Transfer.”