Farouk Lawan, a former member of the House of Representatives was on Tuesday convicted by the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory sitting in Apo, Abuja.
Lawan was sentenced for demanding a bribe of $3 million and receiving $500,000 from Femi Otedola, to remove Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited (Otedola’s company) from the list of oil companies allegedly involved in the fuel subsidy fraud in 2012.
At the time Lawan was the Chairman of House of Representatives Adhoc Committee on Petroleum Subsidy Regime in 2012.
He was convicted on the three count charges against him by Justice Angelina Otaluka, in Suit No. FHC/HC/CR/76/2013, filed by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission on behalf of the Federal Government which accused him of demanding $3m bribe.
Otaluka sentenced Lawan to seven years’ imprisonment for the first count; seven years for the second count; and five years for count 3.
The jail terms will run concurrently, according to the judge. Thus, Lawan will spend only seven years in jail.
He was also ordered by the judge to return the $500,000 bribe he was found to have collected from Otedola to the coffers of the Federal Government.
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Lawan, a four-term member of the House of Representatives, represented Bagwai/Shanono Constituency of Kano State between 1999 and 2015 on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform.
Justice Otaluka while delivering the judgment noted that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and found the ex-lawmaker guilty of the charges.
Otedola, a witness for the prosecution in the trial, had said the $500,000 offered to the defendant was given to him by the Department of State Service (DSS) to set a trap for Lawan after he petitioned the DSS.
The Justice Otaluka held that defendant who claimed that he collected the money as evidence before the House’s Committee that Otedola wanted to bribe the committee members failed to prove his case.
She noted that, no complaint was made to any security agency or anti-corruption agencies as at the early hours of April 24, 2012, when the defendant received the second tranche and he demanded for a balance of payment after receiving the first and second installments.
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
