Justice Lateefa Okunnu of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja yesterday sentenced two oil marketers, Walter Wagbatsoma, Adaoha Ugo- Ndagi, earlier cinvicted of defrauding the Federal Government of the sum of N754 million to 10 years imprisonment.
Wagbatsoma, Ugo-Ndagi, and their company Ontario Oil & Gas Limited were convicted by the court on January 13 on an eight count charge of conspiracy, obtaining property by false pretence, forgery and altering of documents.
However, before the Judge could hand down the sentence, Mrs. Ugo-Ndagi, who was the only convict present in court, collapsed in the dock and was rushed to the hospital for treatment.
This forced the court to adjourned the proceedings till a time the convict would be fit to attend court.
While Wagbatsoma, who is the Chairman of Ontario Oil & Gas Limited had earlier jump bail by travelling outside the country without the court permission.
He was later arrested in arrested by United Kingdom authority in Germany for his alleged involvement in a multi-million pound fraud had already appeared before Lincoln Magistrates’ in London.
While handing down the sentence on Thursday, Justice Okunnu refused a plea by the lawyer to Ugo-Ngadi for a non-custodian sentence, insisting that the convict must go to prison for her crimes.
She stated, “I have considered the plea of the defence counsel for non-custodian sentence of the 2nd defendant. I have to say that the request to grant a non-custodian sentence must be rejected and I can only exercise my discretion on the length of time the convict will spend in prison”.
The judge sentenced Wagbatsoma and Ugo-Ngadi to a minimum of 10 years imprisonment for the eight– count charge proffered against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC).
The court held that, “For each of the counts of conspiracy to obtain money by false pretences, the defendants are sentenced to 10 years in prison.
“For each of the counts of obtaining money by false pretences, the defendants are sentenced 10 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,” the judge held.
Justice Okunnu, however, stressed that although the total sentences passed were 69 years for each of the convict, the sentences would run concurrently.
On Ontario Oil and Gas Ltd, Justice Okunnu stated, “I hereby give an order of restitution against Ontario Oil and Gas Ltd to the federal government.
“The N754 million which was defrauded by the company should be returned to the Federal Government.”
After the sentence was pronounced,counsel to Ugo-Ngadi, Mr Y.A. Kadiri, made an attempt to complain to Justice Okunnu about the
treatment given 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.
But Justice Okunnu declined to entertain the complaint of the defence.
She said, “I am now `functus officio’, if you have any complaint of ethical conduct, go to the appropriate authorities”.
The convict, who was on a wheelchair while the sentence was read, remained stoic and expressionless throughout the proceedings.
The EFCC had on August 1, 2013 arraigned Ngo-Ngali, Wagbatsoma and their company, accusing them of defrauding the Federal Government of N1.9bn, which they fraudulently obtained as subsidy sum for purportedly importing Premium Motor Spirit into the country.
Also charged with the three convicts was an official of the Petroleum Products Price and Regulatory Agency, Mr. Babafemi Fakuade, who was, however, discharged and acquitted by the judge on January 13.
