A Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja has convicted and sentenced Mamman Nasir Ali, the son of former Peoples Democratic Party national chairman, Ahmadu Ali, and a Sierra Leonean, Christian Taylor, to 14 years imprisonment each over a ₦2.2 billion oil subsidy fraud.
Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja on Tuesday handed down 14-year prison terms to two oil marketers, Mamman Nasir Ali and Christian Taylor, for their roles in a ₦2.2 billion fuel subsidy fraud.
The duo, along with their company, Nasaman Oil Services Limited, faced an amended 57-count charge after new evidence emerged in the case. They had originally been arraigned on 49 counts accusing them of conspiracy to obtain money by false pretence, forgery, and using falsified documents. All three defendants pleaded not guilty.
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.
