DAILY GIST reports that a former lawmaker in the House of Representatives, Farouk Lawan, on Tuesday was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for demanding a bribe of $3million and receiving $500,000.
Justice Angela Otaluka of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), sitting at Apo, Abuja, on Tuesday, found the former lawmaker guilty in the three-count charge brought against him by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) against him.
The former lawmaker, a four-term member of the House of Representatives, who represented Bagwai/Shanono Federal Constituency of Kano State between 1999 and 2015, in the case marked FCT/HR/CR/76/13, was alleged to have demanded the sum of $3million for himself from the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited, Femi Otedola.
Below are six things you probably don’t know about the former lawmaker, Lawan
Early Life
Farouk Lawan was born on July 6th, 1962 in his hometown of Shanono in Kano State. He grew up in Kano where he attended primary, secondary and tertiary schools.
Career
Lawan, who obtained his first degree at the Bayero University, Kano, started his career as a registrar at the Kano State Polytechnic. He later went into politics and became a force to reckon with.
16 years as a lawmaker
He first came into the political scene in 1999 when he contested for a seat in the House to represent Bagwai/Shanono Federal Constituency of Kano State under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). He served in the House for 16 years from 1999 to 2015. He suffered his first electoral defeat in the hands of Sule Aliyu Romo.
Mr Integrity
Lawan was arguably the most vocal in the lower legislative chamber before the scandal. His fierce legislative prowess and perceived uncompromising nature, despite wavering storm by strong political opposition, earned him the moniker ‘Mr. Integrity’.
Led The Campaign for The Removal of Patricia Etteh
Lawan led the campaign which forced the first Female Speaker of the House of Representatives, Patricia Eteh, to resign in 2007. Lawan’s group accused Eteh of unlawfully spending N620 million to upgrade her official residence, and also awarding contracts to her cronies.
The Scandal/Road to Prison
In 2012, Lawan chaired the House of Representatives committee that investigated the Nigerian government’s fuel subsidies. The committee was set up in the wake of nationwide strikes in Nigeria after President Goodluck Jonathan removed fuel subsidy. Lawan’s committee said in its report that it discovered a lot of fraudulent activities. It said a whooping $6.8million was paid for petroleum products subsidy that were never delivered. Lawan, got enmeshed in bribery scandal in the course of its investigation of companies indicted in the fuel subsidy scandal. In a meeting with billionaire oil magnate Femi Otedola.
Lawan was seen on tape receiving $500,000 in order to cancel the former’s name from the report before presenting the report to the House. While the bribery scandal did not only dent his anti-corruption stance, it also affected his chance of returning to the green chamber in 2015. In the course of the trial, Otedola had insisted that the operation (to give bribe to Lawan) was done with the full knowledge of the DSS in the bid to “catch a corrupt politician in the act”. While Lawan admitted to receiving the amount, he however insisted it was meant to expose the businessman, and to convince the House of the pressure its committee investigating fuel subsidy fraud, faced. For 8 years, Lawan was a regular visitor in courtrooms to prove his ‘innocence’ of the allegations leveled against him. However, the trial judge, Justice Angella Otaluka convicted Lawan on three-count charge on Tuesday.
