Court sentences ex-PDP chairman’s son to 14 years in prison for fuel subsidy fraud

Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja has sentenced two oil marketers, Mamman Nasir Ali and Christian Taylor, to 14 years in prison for their involvement in a ₦2.2 billion fuel subsidy scam.

The judgment was delivered on Tuesday following a prolonged trial in which the duo, along with their company, Nasaman Oil Services Limited, faced an amended 57-count charge. The charges stemmed from a complex scheme involving conspiracy to obtain money by false pretence, forgery, and the use of falsified documents.

Initially arraigned on 49 counts, the charges were updated after fresh evidence came to light during the trial. Despite pleading not guilty to all counts, the court found them guilty based on the weight of the prosecution’s evidence.

One count detailed how, on November 9, 2011, the marketers and two now-fugitive accomplices allegedly conspired “to obtain the sum of N749,991,273.36 … by falsely claiming that the sum represented subsidy accruing to Nasaman Oil Services Ltd under the Petroleum Support Fund for the importation of 10,031,986 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) … which representation you knew to be false.”

Another count accused them of similarly defrauding the government of N1,480,074,125.61 on April 11, 2011, by claiming subsidy on 20,492,982.50 litres of PMS purportedly imported through shell companies in the British Virgin Islands.

Following Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo’s withdrawal from the matter, the case was reassigned to Justice Dada. During the trial, Prosecutor Seiduh Atteh called several witnesses and tendered documentary evidence to establish how the subsidies were claimed without the requisite importation taking place.

Delivering her judgment, Justice Dada described the defendants’ actions as “not only a serious breach of trust, but an assault on the integrity of Nigeria’s oil subsidy programme.” She found the prosecution’s evidence compelling and convicted Ali and Taylor on all counts.

In addition to the prison terms, Justice Dada ordered the forfeiture of assets and bank accounts linked to the fraudulent transactions. She also issued warrants for the arrest of two other suspects—Oluwaseun Ogunbambo and Olabisi Abdul-Afeez—who remain at large.

The convictions mark one of the highest-profile judgments under Nigeria’s ongoing campaign to curb subsidy corruption.