IT was a startling revelation on Wednesday when the police alleged that the sum of N43.291 billion wrongfully and fraudulently obtained by the Managing Director of Capital Oil and Gas, Patrick Ifeanyi Uba and four others currently in their custody is equivalent to the monthly statutory allocation from the federation acc
The police further alleged that “the suspects, while operating under the name and style of Capital Oil and Gas Industries Ltd, defrauded the Federal Government of Nigeria of a total of N43.291 billion by falsely pretending that the company had imported and sold 538,74 million liters of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) during the 2011 fiscal year through 26 transactions.”The fraud was said to have been discovered by the Presidential Committee on the Verification and Reconciliation of Fuel Subsidy Payments Auditors and reported to the Special Fraud Unit, Ikoyi, Lagos for investigation.
This formed part of the submissions in a counter-affidavit before Justice Okon Abang of a Lagos Federal High Court in opposition to an application by the accused persons where they were seeking to be released on bail.
This is coming even as the court has fixed October 22 as the date to rule on the bail application.
In a 34-paragraph affidavit deposed to by CSP Francis Alonyenu Idu, the police alleged that apart from the present complaint, it is still investigating the applicants on account of other allegations relating to fraudulent transactions, money laundering, forgery of shipping documents and stealing by conversion of petroleum products worth about $280 million.
During Wednesday's proceedings which lasted for about four hours, there were heated arguments by counsel for parties in the matter.
In his submissions, the prosecuting counsel, Godwin Obla, while opposing the application, disclosed that although the applicants were arrested on October 9, the bundle of exhibits was only taken out on October 11, which is the constitutional time allowed for the respondents to hold the applicants.
He argued that by the provisions of Section 232 of the 1979 Constitution, there was no need for an arraignment of the applicants before a remand.
According to him, "the processes filed by the applicants' counsel is faulty de novo. The basis on which the originating motion is filed is incompetent.”
Responding, counsel for the applicants, Joseph Nwobike (SAN), stated that the alleged offence for which the applicants are being remanded are not capital.
He stressed that “the provisions of section 35(4) of the 1999 Constitution clearly strives to protect the liberty of the individual, which the court must ensure it protects.”
Nwobike argued that the respondents were in breach of the applicants’ constitutional right to personal liberty, as contained in the law and urged the court to order the release of the applicants forthwith.
It will be recalled that others remanded alongside Uba by the chief magistrate, Martins Owumi, of a Tinubu magistrate’s court, on Thursday last week, were Nsikan Usoro, Head of Trading, Capital Oil; Godfrey Okorie, Depot Manager; Chibuzor Ogbuokiri, General Manager in charge of Operations and Orji Joseph Anayo, the company’s Executive Director, Operations.
The order was consequent upon an application made by the police for the remand of all the accused on the grounds that the police authorities reasonably suspected them to have committed the offences of economic sabotage against the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Source: Tribune
No comments:
Post a Comment