Former House of Representatives member Farouk Lawan has been released after serving a five-year jail term in Kuje Prison.
In 2021, Lawan was convicted and sentenced to prison for accepting a $500,000 bribe from businessman Femi Otedola, Chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited.
The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory sentenced him to five-years on a three-count charge. In a unanimous decision, on February 24, 2022, the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, affirmed the conviction of Farouk Lawan over the $3 million bribery charges preferred against him by the federal government.
He was accused of demanding $3 million from Femi Otedola to remove Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited (Otedola’s former company) from the list of oil companies allegedly involved in the petrol subsidy fraud in 2012.
The lead judgment was prepared by Justice John Okoro but read by Justice Tijjani Abubakar. The apex court found that Lawan’s appeal was without merit and dismissed it.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgement of a lower court that sentenced former House of Representatives member Farouk Lawan to five years imprisonment for receiving a bribe of $500,000 from businessman Femi Otedola.
A video circulating on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, showed Lawan being released from Kuje prison.
Watch the video below
A former member of the House of Representatives, Farouk Lawan, has regained freedom after serving a 5-year jail term in Kuje Prison.
— Daily Nigerian (@daily_nigerian) October 22, 2024
He was convicted for receiving a bribe of $500,000 from a businessman, Femi Otedola. pic.twitter.com/ok5qKj6FEq
