Let Court Decide Trafigura, Others’ Fate On $8.4m Fraud, AGF Told

Two civil society groups, Advocate For Social Justice and Defence of Rule of Law and Centre Against Injustice and Domestic Violence, have urged the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, to allow the court to conclude the ongoing trial of an oil firm, Trafigura Beheer BV, over allegations of the theft of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) valued at $8.4 million belonging to Nadabo Energy Limited.

The group, which criticised a letter written by the Office of the AGF seeking to take over the prosecution of the case from the police, advised him to initiate an out-of-court settlement between the firms and the nominal complainant, Nadabo Energy Limited, instead of stalling the trial indefinitely.

The Conveners of the groups, Gbenga Soloki and Niyi Adekanla, said this to journalists in Lagos, noting that the matter had witnessed unwanted delay since the letter of the Director, Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPP), Mohammed Abubakar.

Other defendants are Trafigura PTE Limited, Osahon Asemota, Yusuf Kwande, Mettle Energy and Gas, Rembrandt Ltd, and Jil Engineering and Oil Services Limited.

The suit, filed by the Police Special Fraud Unit (SFU) before Justice Mojisola Dada of a Lagos Special Offences and Domestic Violence Court sitting in Ikeja, had witnessed a series of delays.

The prosecution had docked the defendants on a three-count charge of conspiracy, stealing, and receiving stolen property pending against them before Justice  Dada.

According to the charge, the foreign oil firms, alongside four other co-defendants, allegedly stole 6.4 metric tonnes of diesel oil worth $8.4 million belonging to Nadabo Energy Limited in October 2008.

During the trial, the prosecution called 17 witnesses before they closed their case, while the defendants, so far, had presented four witnesses.

According to CAIDOV, the letter of the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, M. A. Abubakar, further clogged the smooth trial before the trial court.

The rights group said they know AGF’s constitutional power to take over any case, as enumerated in Section 174 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

The rights group said the continued delay in prosecuting the defendants in the criminal trial is not due to the country’s administration of the criminal justice system.

The group also said, “It is a known fact that the Attorney-General is, in legal parlance, regarded as ‘lord unto himself’ in the discharge of his constitutional powers.

“Under Section 174 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), it is also a performance of duty with inherent subjective expectations.

“Thus, a decision of the Attorney-General of the Federal to take over the criminal prosecution of defendants validly prosecuted in a court of competent jurisdiction for trial regarding commission of criminal offences in a criminal charge against them is undeniable, in sync with the constitutional powers of the Attorney-General of the Federation.

“It is also a call to duty to reflect all the subjective obligations and objective prohibitions as they pertain to the powers of the Attorney-General of the Federation.

“In exercising his powers under this section, the Attorney-General of the Federation shall regard the public interest, the interest of justice and the need to prevent abuse of legal process.