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 role in a N2.2 billion oil subsidy fraud.
The conviction was handed down on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, after the duo were found guilty on multiple counts related to conspiracy, forgery, and obtaining money by false pretence. They were tried alongside their company, Nasaman Oil Services Limited, on an amended 57-count charge following new developments in the case.
The defendants had initially faced a 49-count charge before being re-arraigned. One of the charges reads:
“Nasaman Oil Services Ltd, Mamman Nasir Ali, Christian Taylor, Oluwaseun Ogunbambo (now at large) and Olabisi Abdul-Afeez (still at large), on or about the 9th day of November 2011 at Lagos, within the Ikeja Judicial Division, with intent to defraud, conspired to obtain the sum of N749,991,273.36 from the Federal Government of Nigeria 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 stated:
“Nasaman Oil Services Ltd, Mamman Nasir Ali, Christian Taylor, Oluwaseun Ogunbambo (now at large) and Olabisi Abdul-Afeez (still at large), on or about the 11th day of April 2011 at Lagos, within the Ikeja Judicial Division, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of N1,480,074,125.61 from the Federal Government of Nigeria by claiming that the sum represented subsidy accruing to Nasaman Oil Services Ltd… which representation you knew to be false.”
The defendants pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
The case was originally before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo of the Lagos High Court before being re-assigned to Justice Dada following Justice Onigbanjo’s withdrawal.
During the trial, the prosecution, led by Seiduh Atteh, presented witnesses and documentary evidence which were admitted by the court.
In delivering judgment, Justice Dada stated that the prosecution presented compelling evidence proving the guilt of the defendants beyond reasonable doubt.
“The actions of the defendants not only defrauded the government, but also undermined the integrity of Nigeria’s oil subsidy programme,” she ruled.
Justice Dada sentenced the two convicts to 14 years in prison each and ordered the forfeiture of their identified assets and accounts linked to the fraud.
The judge also issued arrest warrants for Oluwaseun Ogunbambo and Olabisi Abdul Afeez, two co-defendants who remain at large.
The conviction stems from the fraudulent claim by the convicts that they imported 20,492,982.50 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and were therefore entitled to N1.48 billion in subsidy payments from the government—a representation the court found to be entirely false.
