Their lawyer, Mr Adebayo Adenipekun (SAN), made this known at the commencement of their trial before the court presided over by Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo.
The defendants and their company are among the 17 oil marketers and seven companies being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for alleged fuel subsidy theft.
Adenipekun who cross-examined Mr Wale Adamolekun, the General Manager, Operations of the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), said there was nothing to show that his clients had received the money.
He said the defendants had to submit about 45 documents to the PPPRA for verification before they would be able to access the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF), adding that the Shore Tank Certificate would have been verified by at least six agencies before it gets to the PPPRA.
According to him without the Sovereign Debt Statement (SDS) issued by the PPPRA, the Ministry of Finance will not authorise the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to effect the payment to an oil marketer.
Testifying earlier before the court, Adamolekun who was led by EFCC prosecutor, Mr Rotimi Jacobs, said the PSF was set up by the federal government to ensure that the nation could have a stable price regime for petroleum products.
He said all claims tendered by oil marketers were subjected to thorough verification processes by the PPPRA and other agencies before any payment was made by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
He said Fargo was one of the companies given permission to participate in the scheme but said he was not aware if the company had received the N976.7 million subsidy payment.
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