No Respite For Farouk Lawan, As Supreme Court Upholds Jail Term For $500,000 Bribery

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed an appeal by a former member of the House of Representatives, Farouk Lawan, against the judgments of the lower court which imprisoned him.

A Federal Capital Territory High Court had sentenced Lawan to seven years imprisonment for receiving a $500,000 bribe while serving as the chairman of the House’s ad-hoc committee investigating the fuel subsidy fraud in 2012.

The trial judge, Angela Otaluka, held that Lawan demanded $3m and received $500,000 from Femi Otedola in 2012 to remove Otedola’s oil company, Zenon Oil and Gas, from the list of firms indicted for fraud in the fuel subsidy regime.

She also held that Lawan was guilty of all three counts of corruption and bribery.

Not satisfied, Lawan approached the appellate court where his jail term was reduced from seven to five years.

Lawan later went to the apex court urging the court to set aside the judgments of the lower court.

Reading the lead judgment, Justice Tijani Abubakar upheld the decision of the appeal court and dismissed the appeal.