DSS arrests Ifeanyi Uba over N11bn oil fraud

The illegal sales of about 82 million litres of petrol valued at about N11 billion by Capital Oil & Gas took a new twist as operatives of Nigeria’s Department of State Securities have arrested and detained the oil firm’s boss, Ifeanyi Uba, National Daily has gathered.

The controversial businessman was previously implicated in a fraud saga with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, accused of embezzling funds from an illegal sale of crude oil saved in his facility.

National Daily had previously reported that the  Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, had accused MRS Limited and Capital Oil and Gas Limited to the Department of State Service, DSS, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)  over the duo’s illegal sale of about 130 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, valued at N17.439 billion, belonging to it.

According to Mr. Henry Ikem-Obih, Chief Operating Officer, NNPC Downstream, the NNPC had set up two committees to evaluate the roles played by some of its staff in the illegal product evacuation and had undertaken review of its entire throughput policy in order to align it with global best practices.

Nonetheless, Ikem-Obih stated that so far, MRS has fully complied by returning the 30 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) that it expropriated while the NNPC had not achieved much progress with Capital Oil & Gas which was yet to return 82 million litres of petrol, valued at N11 billion, out of over 100 million litres which it took.

Providing details of the act by the companies, Ikem-Obih, disclosed that the infraction was discovered earlier in the year when the Corporation had need to access the over 100 million litres of petrol stored at the Capital Oil & Gas depot for NNPC Retail and just over 30 million litres in MRS Limited depot all in Apapa area of Lagos.