Supreme Court Upholds Five Years Jail Term Imposed On Former Reps Member

By Ayodele Oni

Farouk Lawal, a former member of the House of Representatives, who is at the centre of a bribery saga has had his five years jail term stamped by the Supreme Court.

The apex Court on Friday  dismissed an appeal by the former member of the House Chamber against the judgments of the lower court which imprisoned him.

A Federal Capital Territory High Court had sentenced Lawan to seven years imprisonment for receiving a $500,000 bribe, while serving as the Chairman of the House’s ad-hoc Committee investigating the fuel subsidy fraud in 2012.

The trial Judge, Angela Otaluka, held that Lawan demanded $3m and received $500,000 from Femi Otedola in 2012 to remove Otedola’s oil company, Zenon Oil and Gas, from the list of firms indicted for fraud in the fuel subsidy regime.

She also held that Lawan was guilty of all three counts of corruption and bribery.

Not satisfied, Lawan approached the appellate court where his jail term was reduced from seven to five years.

Lawan approached the apex court urging the court to set aside the judgments of the lower courts.

Reading the lead judgment, Justice Tijani Abubakar upheld the decision of the appeal court and dismissed  Lawan’s appeal.