Justice Lateefa Okunnu of the Lagos High Court in Ikeja has sentenced Walter Wagbatsoma and Adaoha Ugo-Nnadi to 69 years in prison for fuel subsidy fraud.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned the convicts before the court on August 1, 2013 alongside Mr. Babafemi Fakuade, an official of the Petroleum Products Price and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).
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The court had on January 13, 2017 convicted Wagbatsoma and Ugo-Nnadi but could not proceed with the sentencing as Ugo-Nnadi slumped before the court.
The judge however, found Fakuade, the 3rd defendant and an official of PPPRA not guilty and acquitted him on the charges.
While acquitting Fakuade, the judge said “the case before the 3rd defendant is that he helped in forging the Shore Quality Certificate, what I see before me is that he only signed the document while acting in his capacity as an PPRA official.
“It is not right in criminal cases to infer guilt without concrete evidence, there is no proof that he was aware that the documents were false.
“The prosecution has not been able to prove the case of forgery against the third defendant,” Justice Okunnu held.
Okunnu in her judgment on Thursday however, sentenced Wagbatsoma and Ugo-Ngadi to a minimum of ten years in prison for the six–count charge proffered against them by the EFCC.
“For each of the counts of conspiracy to obtain money by false pretences the defendants are sentenced to ten years in prison.
For each of the counts of obtaining money by false pretences, the defendants are sentenced ten years in prison.
“For the count of conspiracy to commit forgery the defendants are sentenced to seven years in prison, for the offence of forgery the defendants are sentenced to eight years in prison, ”Okunnu said.
The judge noted that the total sentenced passed was a total of 69 years for each of the defendants but the sentence was to run concurrently.
While passing her judgment on Ontario Oil and Gas Limited, Okunnu said “ I hereby give an order of restitution to Ontario Oil and Gas Limited.
“The N754million which was defrauded by the company should be returned to the Federal Government,” the judge said.
After the sentence was read, counsel to Ugo-Ngadi, Mr Y.A Kadiri made an attempt to complain to Justice Okunnu about the treatment of his client by the EFCC.
“For the record, the conduct of the prosecution has been unethical.
“The second defendant has been in hospital though her situation had improved slightly, the prosecution mounted tremendous pressure on the hospital management to discharge her, “ he said.
Okunnu, however, refused to listen to complaint of the defence.
