Mohammed Shosanya
The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal filed by the Chairman of the then House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy probe, Hon. Farouk Lawan seeking to quash his 5 years jail term.
Lawan had represented Bagwai/Shanono Federal Constituency of Kano State, and was found guilty of demanding an aggregate sum of $ 3million from Chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, Chief Femi Otedola, to give his company a clean bill of health in the fuel subsidy probe the House of Reps initiated on 2012.
The former lawmaker has been in prison custody since 2021.
Justice Angela Otaluka, of a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory sitting at Apo, had on June 22, 2021, sentenced the former lawmaker to seven years in prison.
Lawan had among other reliefs, argued that he was not allowed to make a plea of allocutus (plea for leniency) by the trial court before it sentenced him to 5 years. imprisonment.
But the Supreme Court affirmed the judgement that convicted and sentenced Lawan, to five years in prison for bribery.
In a unanimous judgement, a 5-man panel of the apex court, dismissed Lawan’s appeal for lacking in merit.
Justice Inyang Okoro wrote the lead judgement that was read by Justice Tijjani Abubakar.
In the verdict, the Supreme Court said it was “crystal clear that failure of the trial court to call for allocution, did not vitiate the sentence passed on the Appellant.”
Dissatisfied with the decision, Lawan, filed a 6-ground of appeal to challenge his conviction.
He submitted that the ICPC failed to adduce credible evidence establishing a prima facie criminal case against him.
In its judgement on February 24, 2022, the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal affirmed the High Court’s judgment.
In an unanimous decision by a 3-man panel, the Court of Appeal reduced Lawan’s jail term from 7 to 5 years, after it discharged and acquitted him of two of the charges that led to his conviction.
