Nigeria - Forbes Billionaires Adenuga And Dangote Indicted In Fuel Subsidy Fraud

Mike Adenuga & Aliko Dangote (Nigeria's Richest Men)

A total of 25 oil-marketing and trading companies in Nigeria were on Thursday recommended for criminal investigations by the Presidential Committee on Verification and Reconciliation of Subsidy Payments. These include companies belonging to Nigeria's Richest Billionaires Dr. Mike Adenuga and Aliko Dangote.

The committee, which was headed by the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank Plc, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, had earlier announced on Tuesday that 21 companies were indicted in the report.

But investigation revealed that the number of companies indicted and classified as “likely fraudulent cases for criminal investigation” was actually 25.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan had set up the verification committee early this month to verify and reconcile the report of the technical committee, also headed by Aig-Imoukhuede, which was set up by the Federal Ministry of Finance last May to verify all claims and payments made to marketers in 2011.

In the report of the technical committee, scores of marketers and importers were alleged to have committed 17 infractions that cost the country N422,542,937,668.59 in overpayments.

However, after the N422 billion was subjected to reconciliation and verification by the presidential committee, N18 billion was found to have been duplicated, while N21 billion was cleared from the report of the technical committee, bringing down the overpayments to N382,018,250,982.52.

The 25 indicted companies whose identities were made known exclusively to local reporters by presidency sources would be investigated for their alleged involvement in the N62,501,511,789.24 fraudulently obtained through the subsidy scheme out of the N382 billion comprising other minor infractions committed by marketers.

The indicted companies include Alminnur Resources Limited, Brila Energy Limited, Caades Oil and Gas Limited, Capital Oil and Gas Industry Limited and Capital Oil Plc. It is suspected that Capital Oil and Gas Industry Limited and Capital Oil Plc are one and same company.

Others include Ceoti Limited, Conoil Plc, Downstream Energy Source Limited, Eterna Oil Plc, Eurafic Oil and Gas Limited, Heyden Petroleum, Lumen Skies Limited, Majope Investment Limited, Masters Energy Oil and Gas Limited, Matrix Energy Limited, Menol Oil and Gas Limited, MOB International Services Limited and MRS Oil and Gas Plc.

The rest of the companies include Nasaman Oil Services Limited, Naticel Petroleum Limited, Ocean Energy Trading and Services Limited, Pinnacle Contractors Limited, Sifax Oil and Gas Limited, Tonique Oil Services Limited and Top Oil and Gas Development Company Limited.

The 25 companies were recommended for criminal investigation over N62 billion, which the committee said was fraudulently obtained through the subsidy scheme.

A further breakdown of the N382 billion showed that the committee also recommended 50 OM&Ts for further investigation, whose shore tank certification amounting to N186,110,925,269.34 was not signed by the external auditors.

Also, 13 OM&Ts were recommended for further verification in order to authenticate the documents submitted and their sales proceeds amounting to N101, 425,539,228.26.

One hundred and sixteen OM&Ts were also identified as those that got irregular payments amounting to N31,059,184,592.69 as a fiscal concession granted to the companies without authorisation. This applied to every oil marketer and importer that participated in the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) in 2011.

In addition, N671,091,104.50 was identified as normal ongoing recoveries or differentials in the payments paid by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to nine OM&Ts and the auditors verified amount, while penalties (re-entry fee for non-performance) of N20,000,000 each not paid by eight OM&Ts to PPPRA, totalling N160 million, were also identified by the committee.

Other members of the committee chaired by Aig-Imoukhuede were: Director General, Debt Management Office (DMO), Dr. Abraham Nwankwo; Group Executive Director, Finance and Accounts, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Bernard Otti; Deputy Director, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs. Oyinye Ahuchogu; and Managing Director/CEO, Stanbic/IBTC, who represented the banking community, Mrs. Sola David-Borha.

Other members included the National Secretary, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mr. Mike Osatuyi; Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Mr. Obafemi Olawore; Executive Secretary, PPPRA, Mr. Reginald Stanley; Mrs. Aisha Waziri-Umar from the State House; Commissioner of Police, Mr. Tunde Ogunshakin, who represented the Inspector General of Police (IG); and Mohammed Alabi Gimba, who represented the Director General, State Security Service (SSS).