Ex-Nigerian lawmaker, convicted of bribery, freed from prison

A former member of the House of Representatives, Farouk Lawan, who was convicted of bribery, has been released from prison after serving a five-year sentence.

In a statement he signed on Tuesday, Mr Lawan announced that he had left Kuje Correctional Facility after completing his jail term.

“Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah. Today marks the beginning of a new chapter in my life as I step out of Kuje Custodial Centre, with a heart full of gratitude to Allah SWT for seeing me through this trial.

“My gratitude is deep. I am alive, in good health, and in high spirits to be with my family, friends, and associates. I do not take that for granted.

“I remain grateful and indebted to my family and friends who stood by me through this particularly trying phase of my life. May Allah SWT bless you,” the statement read.

PREMIUM TIMES had yet to verify the exact time Mr Lawan left the Kuje Correctional Facility.

He represented Bagwai/Shannon Federal Constituency of Kano State in the lower chamber from 1999 to 2015.

Background

Mr Lawan, a veteran member of the House of Representatives, headed the ad hoc committee of the House that probed the multi-billion-naira fraud in the subsidy scheme during the then President Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2012.

As of then, the former lawmaker had earned the moniker, Mr Integrity, in tributes to his strong anti-corruption bent.

In the report issued at the end of its enquiry, the Lawan-led committee indicted Mr Otedola’s Zenon Oil and Gas Ltd and many other firms.

Specifically, the committee accused Zenon Oil of fraudulently obtaining over $230 million foreign exchange from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to import petrol under the subsidy scheme, but failed to use it for the purpose.

But Mr Lawan later removed Zenon Oil’s name from the list of indicted firms after receiving $500,000 from Mr Otedola as the first tranche of the “agreed” $3 million bribe.

Both men later claimed that they gave or received the money as evidence of bribe against each other.

But Mr Otedola said he reported to the State Security Service (SSS) the alleged move by Mr Lawan to extort him through threats to indict his firms without justification.

The businessman said the SSS asked him to play along. He said the SSS organised a sting operation that got the former legislator captured collecting the bribe from him in a video clip.

Mr Lawan, on his part, insisted that he collected the money as evidence against Mr Otedola, but admitted he did not report to any law enforcement agency.

The office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, though a private prosecutor, Adegboyega Awomolo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, had charged Mr Lawan with the first two counts under section 18(1)(a) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, and the third count under section 17(1)(a) of the same law.

Journey through courts

In her judgement delivered on June 22, 2021, the trial judge, Angela Otaluka, of the FCT High Court, convicted Mr Lawan on all three charges filed by the government.

However, the Court of Appeal, in February 2022, narrowly affirmed Mr Lawan’s conviction after exonerating him of two out of the three counts he was earlier jailed for by the trial court. Consequently, the court reduced the seven years imprisonment to two.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court affirmed the conviction.