$500,000 Bribery Scandal : Go And Defend YourSelf – Court Tells Ex-Lawmaker, Farouk Lawan

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has nullified the request of the former House of Representatives member, Farouk Lawan who asked the court to dismiss the case of the bribery allegation level against him.

Naija news Understands that in a judgment on Tuesday, a three-man panel of the Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed Lawan’s appeal for lacking in merit.

The Court, therefore, directed the former House of Representatives member, Farouk Lawan, to return to the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to defend himself in the $500,000 bribery case pending against him.

The appellate court upheld the October 17, 2019 ruling by Justice Angela Otaluka of the High Court of the FCT, rejecting Lawan’s no-case submission.

Lawan is being prosecuted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) for allegedly collecting $500,000 as part of a $3 million bribe.

The ex-lawmaker was alleged to have demanded money to facilitate the removal of Femi Otedola’s company, Zenon Oil, from the list of firms indicted by the House of Representatives’ ad hoc committee which probed fuel subsidy abuse in 2012, which Lawan chaired.

The prosecution called five witnesses and closed its case, following which Lawan made a no-case submission, which was rejected in a ruling by Justice Otaluka on October 17, 2010.

Rather than enter his defence, as ordered by the trial court, Lawan, through his lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), appealed the ruling, which the Appeal Court dismissed yesterday for lacking in merit.