Why Farouk Lanwan, A Former member of the House of Rep. was sentenced to 7 years in prison.

Farouk Lawan, A former member of the House of Representatives was recently sentenced to seven years in prison by a High court in Abuja due to the $3 million bribery scandal in 2012.

Farouk who was the former Chairman of the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee on Petroleum Subsidy was accused of collecting $500,000 of $3m bribes from Femi Otedola The oil tycoon, in order to remove his company, Zenon Petroleum, from the panel investigation.

Lawan was found guilty of counts one, two, and three bordering on corruptly asking for and obtaining a bribe from Femi Otedola, in order to exonerate Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited from the list of companies in the fuel subsidy scam.

The presiding judge, Justice Angela Otaluka, noted that the evidence listed and submitted before the court by the prosecution counsel, remain unshaken during cross-examination.

The judge also noted that the conduct, responses, and submissions of the defendant and witnesses, in this case, establish the charge in the count

Justice Otaluka added that the defendant demanded a balance of payment, after receiving the first and second tranche of the payment, and as at the early hours of 24th April 2012 when the accused received the second tranche, no complaint was made to any security agency or anti-corruption agencies, as he claims he accepted the money to show as evidence before the house.

The judge further said the defendant failed to convince the court that his acceptance of the said bribe was to serve as evidence before the House Committee that the Chairman of Zelon Petroleum wants to bribe the Committee involved in the probe.

According to the ruling, for counts one and two, the court sentenced him to seven years while for counts three he was sentenced to five years. The sentences are to run concurrently.

The court also ordered that the defendant return the sum of $500,000 to the Federal Government.