Farouk Lawan, the previous Chairman of the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee on Petroleum Subsidy, was sentenced to seven years in prison by a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court.
Lawan was sentenced to prison on Tuesday, January 22, after being found guilty of soliciting a bribe from Femi Otedola, a rich businessman, during a gasoline subsidy investigation in 2012. Under previous President Goodluck Jonathan, he oversaw an ad hoc commission that investigated petroleum subsidies.
Otedola had accused Lawan of making a $3 million demand for his company, Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited, to be removed from the list of entities under investigation. He was charged with receiving a $500,000 bribe from Otedola by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), but he denied it.
The court sentenced him to seven years in prison for counts one and two, and five years in prison for count three. The sentences must be read in order. The defendant was as well ordered to return $500,000 (N205m) to the federal government by the court.