Former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, has revealed that multiple oil marketing companies engaged in large-scale document forgery to fraudulently obtain multi-billion naira petrol subsidy payments from the Federal Government.
The disclosure was made in Bawa’s newly released book titled “The Shadow of Loot & Losses: Uncovering Nigeria’s Petroleum Subsidy Fraud,” where he provided a detailed account of how systemic fraud and regulatory lapses enabled a sustained heist under the now-defunct Petroleum Support Fund.
According to Bawa, the EFCC uncovered several cases where marketers forged up to 24 different documents to inflate the volume of petroleum products purportedly imported into the country. These forged documents included marine insurance certificates, bills of lading, pro forma invoices, shore tank certificates, and DPR vessel reports.
“The manipulation of import quantities by oil marketing companies to fraudulently increase subsidy payments represents one of the most prevalent forms of fraud observed in the sector, especially from late 2010 onwards,” Bawa wrote.
He explained that the fraudulent practice exploited the subsidy calculation formula: landing cost minus ex-depot price, multiplied by the claimed quantity of fuel imported. By inflating the quantity through fake documentation, companies secured payments far above what was actually delivered.
The book cited a case involving a company referred to as ZZZ Limited, which secured a permit to import 10,000 metric tons of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) but only delivered half the approved volume.
Despite importing only 5,000,000 litres, the company claimed 12,000,000 litres and fraudulently received N1.4 billion in subsidy payments from the Debt Management Office (DMO), instead of the N700 million it was actually entitled to.
The firm supported its claim with 24 forged documents, including marine insurance certificates, commercial invoices, vessel cargo manifests, and PPPRA approval pages.
Bawa noted that the fraud persisted due to regulatory weaknesses and collusion involving depot operators, surveyors and government officials.
“In many instances, government officials were found to have either knowingly or unknowingly participated in the fraud by stamping and signing the forged documents,” Bawa said.
He further disclosed that under his leadership, the EFCC recovered over N30 billion from oil marketers who benefitted from fraudulent subsidy claims.
However, he noted that enforcement agencies consistently encountered resistance due to the entrenched interests involved in the scheme.
The revelations come amid renewed scrutiny of Nigeria’s subsidy regime, which President Bola Tinubu officially terminated in May 2023.
Prior to its removal, data from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) showed that over N13 trillion was spent on petrol subsidies between 2005 and 2021.
Bawa’s account reinforces calls for the prosecution of subsidy fraud beneficiaries, many of whom remain unprosecuted more than a decade after the scam was exposed.
The publication raises further questions about the integrity of Nigeria’s fuel importation framework and highlights the systemic reforms needed to prevent similar abuses in future subsidy-related programmes.
