On Friday, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal filed by former House of Representatives member Farouk Lawan challenging the lower court’s rulings that led to his imprisonment. Lawan had been sentenced to seven years in prison by a Federal Capital Territory High Court for accepting a $500,000 bribe during his tenure as the chairman of the House’s ad-hoc committee investigating the fuel subsidy fraud in 2012.
The trial judge, Angela Otaluka, determined that Lawan had solicited $3 million and accepted $500,000 from Femi Otedola in 2012 to exclude Otedola’s oil company, Zenon Oil and Gas, from the list of companies implicated in fraud related to the fuel subsidy regime. Otaluka further found Lawan guilty on all three counts of corruption and bribery.
Unsatisfied with the verdict, Lawan sought relief from the appellate court, where his seven-year sentence was reduced to five years. Despite Lawan’s plea at the Supreme Court to overturn the lower court’s judgments, Justice Tijani Abubakar, in delivering the lead judgment, upheld the appellate court’s decision and dismissed Lawan’s appeal.
