Justice was on January 13, 2017 served as a Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, convicted Walter Wagbatsoma, Adaoha Ugo-Ndagi, chairman and managing director, respectively of Ontario Oil & Gas Nigeria Limited, along with their company, in a N1.9 billion oil subsidy fraud case preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

It was a dramatic climax to a trial that actually began on August 1, 2012 when they were first arraigned before Justice Habeeb Akiru, of the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, for the fraud.

Justice Lateefa Okunnu who took over the case on February 26, 2013 when the accused persons were re-arraigned along with Fakuade Ebenezer, an employee of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, on an amended eight-count charge bordering on conspiracy, obtaining property by false pretence, forgery and altering of documents, convicted them of all the charges.

In a terse ruling, Justice Okunnu, found Ugo-Ndagi and the billion oil magnate who was absent in court, guilty, while acquitting Ebenezer, the third defendant.

The trial judge held that: “The defendants defrauded the Federal Government of N340 million in the third quarter of 2010 and N414 million in the fourth quarter of 2010”, noting that according to audit reports by Akintola Williams Delloitte, they did not remit an excess of N754 million to government

Wagbatsoma, according to Justice Okunnu, knowingly received the sum in excess of what Ontario Oil and Gas Nigeria Limited was entitled to, and “in my opinion, he contributed to the false pretence.”

She further noted that Ugo-Ndagi being the “alter ego” of Ontario Oil and Gas Nigeria Limited, was aware of the shady deals, and so was complicit in the company’s illegal acceptance of N942 billion as subsidy payment instead of N602 million.

Justice Okunnu, further noted that the prosecution, led by Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, provided incontrovertible evidence, detailing how the convicts discharged much lesser quantity of petrol, and presented a shore tank certificate that was forged.

While recalling that in the course of trial, a prosecution witness gave evidence as to how Ontario Oil and Gas paid N37 million for 12 million litres of fuel in a throughput agreement with Integrated Oil and Gas, but later collected subsidy for 19 million litres, the trial judge noted that in another transaction, the company collected subsidy for 19 million litres, yet it paid a throughput agreement with Obat Oil worth N28 million for 10 million litres of fuel.

“Another prosecution witness, Obinna Ukonu, a store officer at Integrated Oil and Gas, gave evidence that Ontario brought in 12 million litres of fuel via a mother vessel, MT Pacific, and then a daughter vessel, MT Union Brave. The same quantity was “trucked out” by the company,” the judge held.

She held that: “Evidence by the prosecution is that the product was discharged into one tank which cannot contain more than 16.5 million litres because of an inbuilt floating roof that takes about two million litres, and so I find that there is credible, concrete evidence that the quantity of petrol discharged was 12 million litres.”

A calibrated report, marked as Exhibit D1, which showed that the tank in question cannot contain more than 18 million litres of fuel, was described as “very damaging”, and helped make the trial judge come to the conclusion that the convicts conspired to defraud the Federal Government.

After giving insight into a trial, which spanned almost four years, Justice Okunnu pronounced Wagbatsoma, Ngo-Ngali, and their company guilty.

“It is our humble plea that court grants her a custodial sentence starting from the day she was arraigned,”

This prompted defence counsel, E.D. Onyeke, to urge the court “to temper justice with mercy”, asking that “a custodial sentence starting from the day she was arraigned” be granted, on the basis that that “my client has health challenges”, and “she is an employer of labour whose workers depend on her managerial abilities, her workers will suffer more than necessary especially in this period of recession.”

Jacobs, however, argued that “a custodial sentence will be sending a wrong signal to the public that the rich cannot go to prison and will be a hindrance to our fight against corruption”, and “there is also no medical report regarding the alleged ill health of the defendant and the prison has medical facilities, if they can provide for the poor, they can provide for the rich.”‎

He therefore, urged the court to discountenance the argument of the defence, reminding that court that “the minimum sentence of the offences which the convicts have been convicted is seven years.”

However, could not announce the sentence to be meted out to the convicts, as Ugo-Ndagi slumped in the dock thus stalling the day’s proceedings.

Justice Okunnu, thereafter, adjourned to January 16, 2017 to give her sentence, in order to allow Ugo-Ngadi get proper medical attention and appear before the court.