Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos, has sentenced two oil marketers, Mamman Nasir Ali and Christian Taylor, to 14 years imprisonment each for their involvement in a N2.2 billion oil subsidy fraud.

The convicted oil marketers were found guilty on Tuesday following their re-arraignment alongside their company, Nasaman Oil Services Limited, on an amended 57-count charge. The charges included conspiracy to obtain money by false pretence, forgery, and use of falsified documents.

According to court documents, the convicts, along with two others currently at large, fraudulently obtained N749,991,273.36 from the Federal Government on November 9, 2011. They falsely claimed this 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).

The prosecution, led by Seiduh Atteh, presented a compelling case supported by multiple witness testimonies and documentary evidence. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had accused the convicts of fraudulently collecting a total of N1,480,074,125.61 under the pretense of importing 20,492,982.50 litres of PMS into Nigeria.

In her judgment, Justice Dada emphasized that the defendants' fraudulent acts not only caused massive financial loss to the government but also eroded public trust in the nation's oil subsidy framework.

The court ordered the forfeiture of identified assets and bank accounts linked to the proceeds of the fraud. Additionally, Justice Dada issued arrest warrants for two co-accused persons, Oluwaseun Ogunbambo and Olabisi Abdul-Afeez, who remain at large.

The case, which was initially before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo who later withdrew, marks the conclusion of a lengthy legal process in one of Nigeria's most significant oil subsidy fraud prosecutions.