N1.1bn Subsidy Fraud: Witness Reveals Fresh Details

A witness in the ongoing N1.1 billion subsidy fraud trial against an
oil marketer, Opeyemi Ajuwah, on Friday, told a Lagos high court in
Ikeja, that a staff member of his company signed the Empty Tank
Certificate issued by a vessel, MT Brave.
The witness, Yayah Zon Kassim, who is the Company Secretary and Legal
Adviser of General Marine and Oil Services Limited (GMO), told the
court, presided over by Justice Lateefat Okunnu, that Okechukwu Opo,
one of the surveyors that signed the document, works with the company.
Kassim made this known while under cross-examination by counsel for
Ajuwah, Olanrewaju Ajanaku.
He said that on September 3, 2012, his company received a letter from
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) requesting them to
authenticate two documents, the empty tank certificate and the
Vessel's MT Brave haulage report.
He said they declined to authenticate the documents because it was not
their own.
"We saw a signature of one of our members of staff who signed it.
After we read it, we contacted Q and Q, we told them we had seen a
document from them signed by our staff but that we could not
authenticate it," he said.
Kassim later wrote the EFCC that they were not in position to
authenticate the document because they did not issue the empty tank
certificate.
"Since it has to do with investigation, we told the EFCC to reject the
Empty Tank Certificate issued by Q and Q," he added.
He said that the staff of his company, Opo, was in a better position
to explain why he signed the document.
Justice Okunnu adjourned the matter to February 16, 2015.