On Tuesday, Farouk Lawan, a former member of the house of representatives, was convicted for bribery after a trial that lasted seven years.
Lawan, who was prosecuted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), was found guilty of asking for $3 million bribe, and receiving $500,000 out of the money.
As the chairman of the house committee that investigated the fuel subsidy scam, Lawan had approached Femi Otedola, billionaire businessman, to demand the bribe.
He had sought to remove the Zenon Oil and Gas Ltd, which was founded by Otedeola, from the list of companies indicted by lawmakers in the subsidy scam.
Although Otedola maintained that his company was never involved in oil subsidy scam, he agreed to grant Lawan’s request — but only as part of a grand plan to indict him.
Unknown to the former lawmaker, Otedola had petitioned the Department of State Services (DSS).
As a way to get evidence, the DSS gave Otedola marked wads of cash worth $500,000 in order to give to Lawan to set him up.
On April 23 and 24, Lawan visited Otedola at his residence to collect the said money in two tranches. Otedola also promised to send the balance of $2.5 million.
After collecting the money, he moved a motion during the house of representatives plenary seeking to remove the name of Zenon Oil and Gas from the list.
Otedola would later testify in court that he gave Lawan $500,000 as instructed by the DSS.
Below is a video of Otedola’s meeting with Lawan, during which the former lawmaker received part of the money:
