Farouk Lawan Arrives Kuje Prisons As Lawyers Ponder Appeal

Farouk Lawan has been moved to Kuje Prisons in the outskirt of Abuja to commence his seven-year jail sentence as his legal team ponders the prospect of an appeal to quash the sentence.

Daily Trust reported on Wednesday that a source at the prison confirmed that Farouk Lawan was taken there shortly after he was convicted by the court.

GreenWhiteGreen GWG reports that Farouk Lawan who was chairman of the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee constituted in 2012 to probe the alleged scam in the petrol subsidy regime of the Federal Government.

It was in the process of the investigation that he was caught in a sting operation mounted by the Department of State Services, DSS following complaints by billionaire oil trader, Femi Otedola of a $3 million demand from Lawan to remove his company, Zenon from the list of indicted firms.

He was on Tuesday, June 22, 2021 sentenced to a seven year term after nine years of trial.

“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,” the source told Daily Trust.

While Farouk 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 Farouk 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 Farouk Lawan, 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.

Source: Daily Trust

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