Ada Ugo-Ngadi of Ontario Oil and Gas Ltd Sentenced to 10 Years Behind Bars for Fuel Subsidy Fraud

Ada Ugo-Ngadi, the Managing Director of Ontario Oil and Gas Ltd, was on Thursday 26th of January sentenced to jail for 10 years for defrauding the Federal Government of N754 million in oil subsidy transactions.

Justice Lateefa Okunnu of an Ikeja High Court handed down the verdict, the first conviction since the massive oil subsidy fraud trial allegedly perpetrated by oil marketers began in 2012.

Walter Wagbatsoma, Ugo-Ngadi’s co-defendant and the Chairman of Ontario Oil and Gas Ltd, was absent in court for the judgment. He is currently being held in the United Kingdom on charges relating to a £12 million National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) Trust fraud.

Okunnu, in her judgment, sentenced Wagbatsoma and Ugo-Ngadi to a minimum of 10 years imprisonment for the six– count charge proffered against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“For each of the counts of conspiracy to obtain money by false pretenses, the defendants are sentenced to 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,” she said.

The judge noted that the total sentences passed were 69 years for each of the defendants, but that the sentences would run concurrently.

On Ontario Oil and Gas Ltd, Okunnu said:“I hereby give an order of restitution to Ontario Oil and Gas Ltd.

“The N754 million which was defrauded by the company should be returned to the Federal Government.”

Ugo-Ngadi, who was in a wheelchair while the sentence was read, remained stoic and expressionless. She had earlier on Jan. 13 slumped in the dock when the sentence was about to be passed by Okunnu and was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).

As soon as the court rose, a white Kirikiri Female Prison van drove into the court’s premises and immediately conveyed her to the facility to serve her term.

Source: Vanguard