In a definitive ruling, the Supreme Court has affirmed the five-year prison sentence handed down to former House of Representatives member, Farouk Lawan.
The lead judgment, delivered by Justice Tijani Abubakar on Friday, dismissed Lawan’s appeal challenging the February 2022 decision of the Court of Appeal in Abuja. The Court of Appeal had previously reduced the sentence imposed by a high court from seven years to five.
Lawan, former Chairman of the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy Regime, faced charges stemming from a 2013 case.
He was accused of soliciting a $3 million bribe from billionaire businessman Femi Otedola. The alleged bribe was intended to influence the removal of Otedola’s oil company from the list of implicated firms in the 2012 fuel subsidy scam.
In June 2021, Lawan was convicted on three counts, with sentences of five years each for the first two counts and seven years for the last count, all to run concurrently. The recent Supreme Court ruling solidifies the legal outcome of this high-profile case.
