The Supreme Court has rejected the appeal filed by Farouk Lawan, the former chairman of the federal House of Representatives ad-hoc committee on fuel subsidy, challenging his conviction and five-year imprisonment related to a fuel subsidy scandal.
Lawan had received a seven-year jail term from the Federal Capital Territory High Court on June 22, 2021.
Recall that the trial judge Angela Otaluka, in 2012, sentenced Lawan after finding him guilty of bribery, based on a three-count charge filed by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC).
The ICPC’s allegations included Lawan’s purported demand for $3 million from business mogul Femi Otedola to exclude his company from the fuel subsidy scam defaulters list (constituting counts 1 and 2). Additionally, he was accused of accepting a $500,000 bribe from Otedola (count 3).
Under the legal provisions, counts 1 and 2 carried a punishment of 7 years imprisonment each, while bribery incurred a 5-year term. Notably, the Court of Appeal, Abuja, on February 24, 2022, removed two counts from the charges, reducing Lawan’s sentence from seven to five years.
But Lawan’s lawyer, J.B. Daudu appealed to the apex court seeking his client’s acquittal.
However, the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation represented on Friday by Mrs Aderonke Imana, urged the apex court to uphold the former lawmaker’s conviction and sentencing.
In delivering the lead judgment, prepared by Justice Inyang Okoro, Justice Tijani Abubakar concluded that the issues were resolved against the appellant.
The judge dismissed the appeal, emphasizing the lack of merit and affirming that Lawan did, indeed, receive a bribe.