The suspension order was given by the joint committee of Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) and Public Enterprise Committee (PEC) in its report on the Parliamentary Inquiry into the alleged “corruption, bribery, tax evasion, and money laundering” involving the sale of 36,935.614 metric tonnes of petroleum products valued at Thirty Million Dollars (US$30M).
While tabling the report at the National Assembly recently, the Chairperson of the joint committee said the investigation revealed that Gam-petroleum did not perform a due diligence assessment on Apogee FZC before onboarding them.
According to him, the General Manager stated that it was not part of their operation to perform due diligence on new clients, as this was not important to them.
He added that the investigation and testimonies from other witnesses stated that at the time Apogee FZC was in the country, other OMCs were not given the opportunities to use the haulage facility at the depot, and were all compelled to buy their petroleum products from Apogee FZC.
“Testimonies also indicated that Mr Yoro Jallow, GM of Gam-petroleum, was serving as an agent for Apogee FZC; this is clearly cemented during the testimonies of MD of GNPC and ORYX, who in their testimonies stated that it was Mr Yoro Jallow who introduced Apogee FZC to them,” the committee chair stated.
He further stated that the Committee also observed that during the period Apogee entered the market, they were given exclusive use of the haulage facility.
“The monopolization in granting of the haulage to international traders (Apogee FZC) has greatly put our local OMCs at a position of disadvantage,” he pointed out.
“The Committee also observed that the alleged shortage of petroleum products occurred on the 31st of October 2021, contrary to his submission that the shortage occurred sometime in 2023.”
He added: “The Committee does not find Mr Yoro Jallow to be truthful in his testimony to the Committee, and consequently does not find his testimony to be credible.”
