NAM ACCUSES GAM-PETROLEUM BOSS OF RECEIVING D600,000 MONTHLY BRIBE FROM IMPORTERS OF RUSSIAN OIL

Veteran parliamentarian and representative of Niamina Dankunku, Samba Jallow, yesterday made a stunning revelation at the National Assembly after alleging that Gam-Petroleum general manager, Yoro Jallow, was the one receiving the much-talked about D600,000 monthly payment from the importers of Russian oil.
Many state officials have been implicated in the importation and sale of petroleum products from a Russian ship which anchored in Banjul, evaded tax and siphoned proceeds overseas.
The parliamentary investigation started last July when Representative Sainey Jawara of Lower Saloum tabled a motion, seeking to establish a commission to investigate the alleged illegal importation of about 36,935,614 metric tonnes of petroleum worth US$30 million into the country by Apogee FZC, Ultimate Beige Logistics and Creed Energy Limited.
The report adopted yesterday, recommended for the immediate suspension of the general manager of Gam-Petroleum and initiation of criminal perjury proceedings against him for “deliberately misleading” parliament.
The committee found that Jallow acted as an agent for Apogee FZC in the sale of the oil by introducing them to local oil marketing companies and was complicit in a range of “institutional failures” and “conflicts of interest” that facilitated “preferential treatment, regulatory evasion, and monopolistic practices” in favour of Apogee FZC.
During the tense debate on the report, NAM Jallow who is the longest serving MP in the National Assembly, charged that there was massive abuse of office and corruption by public officials who abetted and aided the sale of the oil.
He alleged that he had a private conversation with a witness believed to be the mastermind in the scandal who informed him that the D600,000 monthly bribery paid by Apogee was being given to the GP boss. He said this said informant was not accorded the opportunity to testify before the committee for reasons he did not explain. “That witness sat here for two hours waiting for us but we could not connect to him because he was the mastermind of everything. I had a private chat with him and he told me the D600,000 was being received by Gam-Petroleum general manager. He told me if you go to an Access Bank account you will see the first withdrawal,” Jallow disclosed.
He argued that if there is no selective justice all those officials involved should be prosecuted and if found guilty sent to jail. “If former permanent secretary Dr Banja could be prosecuted for a mere leaked audio, and was sent to jail, then all those individuals involved in this matter should be dealt with accordingly. All the evidence is here. Abuse of office is a corrupt practice, and corruption and bribery are all the same. There is nobody in this country who did not know what happened in this oil scandal. Everybody knew it. We are the ones talking about it here but let us know that this was with the public before it came to the Assembly. I think we should change our laws on corruption. If somebody murdered somebody, there is one life lost, but if you do corruption, you kill a whole nation. Who will say you do not see corruption in this case? When a minister calls his counterpart and the investigation is halted, that is an abuse of office and it is corruption. The circumstantial evidence is there. So, you cannot tell us otherwise. Let us be fair to our people. They know about this. If we are fair to our electorate, we will act on these recommendations,” Jallow said.
His compatriot, Sainey Jawara, who wept as he debated on the report, said he confronted General Manager Yoro Jallow about the alleged D600,000 bribery and who was receiving it, but Jallow responded that Apogee knows who they were paying it to.
“Monies were given to the police, managers and other officials. The policy that allows them to have a monopoly over the ullage [sic] was made out of text conversation. That policy dictated the trading of this dubious transaction,” he stated.

Source: The Standard