Abubakar and his company Nadabo Energy Limited were subsequently arraigned on a 21-count charge bordering on obtaining money under false pretence, diversion of Federal Government funds and forgery.
Peters is also facing a similar charge brought against him by the EFCC before Justice Christopher Balogun of the same Lagos High Court.
The count one of the charges read: “That you Nadabo Energy limited on or about 26th day of September 2011 in Lagos within the Ikeja judicial division fraudulently obtained the sum of N761,628,993.84 from the Federal Government by falsely representing that the sum represented the subsidy accrued to Nadabo Energy Limited under the Petroleum Support Fund for the importation of 16,808,064 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) which Nadabo Energy limited purported to have purchased from Delano Petroleum Corporation Akara Tortola British Virgin Island, and transported the 16,808,064 through MT Gotland Carolina (mother vessel) and MT Sonia (daughter vessel) to Nigeria.
Abubakar and his company had however pleaded not guilty.
The matter which commenced in 2015 had suffered many adjournments following the absence of the defence in court.
At the resumption of the matter on Tuesday, AbdulRasheed Bawa, EFCC Chairman, who is the star witness in the case, was at the court for the trial of the oil marketer, but the proceedings could not go on owing to the absence of his counsel in court.
The accused who was present in court told the trial judge that his counsel was to fly into Lagos from Kaduna but he could not explain why he was not in court.
He gave a firm assurance that his counsel would be in court on Wednesday. Consequently, the matter was adjourned till tomorrow, Wednesday, for the continuation of trial.