The Albino Foundation Public Notice
By Our Reporters
The Chairman of the then ad-hoc investigating committee, Farouk Lawan, on fuel subsidy was yesterday sentenced to seven years imprisonment for receiving bribe from billionaire oil magnate, Femi Otedola, the owner of one of the firms being investigated.
This ruling is coming nine years after the scandal that rocked the House of Representatives investigation into fuel subsidy fraud.
Justice Angela Otaluka of an FCT High Court sitting in Apo yesterday found Lawan guilty of all three counts. The case has been in various courts, and the Supreme Court since it began in 2012.
A source at the prison who does not want to be named confirmed that Lawan was taken there shortly after he was convicted by the court.
“Yes, he was brought here (Kuje correctional facility) straight from the courtroom. From today, he has started serving his jail term and will continue until he finishes his sentence unless he appeals his case and wins the appeal at any point before he will be released,” he said.
While Lawan was convicted for his role in the bribery scandal, charges were however not filed against the giver of the alleged bribe, Otedola, a situation explained by lawyers as justified by law.
Otedola had himself said during the trial that the bribe money he gave to Lawan was given to him by the Department of State Services (DSS) as part of a sting operation.
The former lawmaker was prosecuted on charges of receiving a bribe of $500,000 from Otedola.
The money was part of the $3milllion Lawan requested to have the businessman’s firms removed from the list of companies indicted for fuel subsidy fraud.
While delivering judgment yesterday, the judge held that Lawan’s conduct had elements of corruption.
She held that from the pool of evidence before the court, the prosecuting lawyer, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), had established a case of corrupt practices against the defendant in count one of the charge that borders on corruptly requesting a bribe of $3million.
“It is the duty of the defendant to produce materials upon which he places his defence,” she said.
She also said Lawan failed to call one Honourable Ribadu or any member of the house committee to buttress his claim of collecting the money to implicate Otedola, insisting that they were “vital witness” needed to prove his case.
“Count one of the charges is not based on suspicion but on credible evidence. The defendant (Lawan) corruptly asked for $3million and received a $500,000 bribe in two tranches from Femi Otedola,” the judge said.
The judge also dismissed Lawan’s claim that he received the $500,000 to obtain proof of moves by Otedola to induce him and members of his committee.
The judge thereafter sentenced the four-term former federal lawmaker from Kano State to seven years for counts one and two while he was sentenced to five years for count three. The sentences are to run concurrently.
Lawan was also asked to return the $500,000 collected from Otedola to the federal government.
Justice Otaluka was the third judge that heard the case since Lawan’s first arraignment.
Two judges who earlier handled the matter could not conclude it as the first one was elevated to the Court of Appeal bench and the second withdrew after Lawan accused her of bias, the same allegation he earlier leveled against Justice Otaluka.
While Lawan was immediately taken into custody by officials of Nigerian Correctional Services believed to be from the Kuje centre and driven out of the court after the judgment, lawyers said he has a right to appeal the judgment of the court up to the Supreme Court and can also apply for post-conviction bail.
Otedola’s evidence against Lawan
It would be recalled that as Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Zenon Oil and Gas Limited, Otedola had in his testimony before the court in June 2019 said the money he handed over to Lawan was given to him by the DSS.
He added that the alleged bribe money was given to Lawan in a sting operation.
He said that the DSS, however, did not catch Lawan red-handed at the time of collecting the money from him (Otedola), as shown in a video played in the open court.
He also told the court that he did not have any documentary evidence to the fact that the money was given to him by the DSS, saying that the money was given to him in bits.
He further stated that he did not take down the serial numbers of the money given to him by the DSS, adding that he did not sign any document when collecting the money in bits.
Asked if the content of the envelope exchanging hands in the video could have been a letter or an invitation card, Otedola, who testified as the fifth prosecution witness, said, “Possibly, the content could have been a letter or an invitation card.”
The witness further told the court that going by the video shown in the court, Lawan did not remove his cap and stuff it with dollars.
