Police Set To Prosecute Lawan Over U.S.$62 Million Bribe

The police are finalising plans to arraign the suspended Chairman, House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee on the Monitoring of the Fuel Subsidy regime, Hon. Farouk Lawan, for allegedly taking a bribe, THISDAY has learnt.

 The planned arraignment, which could take place next week, follows the conclusion of investigation into the bribe-for-clearance scandal in which Lawan was purported to have collected $500,000 from the Chairman, Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, Mr. Femi Otedola, to doctor the report of the ad hoc committee.

Detectives who investigated the matter are said to have finished and submitted their report to the police Legal Department for advice on the next course of action.

THISDAY learnt that Lawan will be arraigned along with the clerk of the ad hoc committee, Mr. Boniface Emenalo, who reportedly collected $120,000 from Otedola as part of the advance for the bribe-for-clearance scandal that has rocked the House.

 Lawan, during the investigation, had stridently denied receiving the bribe from Otedola to alter the report, saying he collected the $500,000 as evidence that Otedola was trying to pressurise him to remove his company from the list of companies that bought foreign exchange from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) without importing fuel.

However, several efforts to retrieve the money from him have failed as he stuck to his tale that he gave the money and an accompanying letter to the Chairman, House Committee on Narcotic Drugs and Financial Crimes, Hon. Adams Jagaba.

 Jagaba, though, has rebutted Lawan's claim that he wrote a letter in which he informed him (Jagaba) of attempts to bribe the ad hoc committee and attached the money to it.

 It was learnt that the police investigative team, headed by Ali Amodu, the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Special Task Force, during the investigation, was able to gather some incriminating evidence which would be used to prosecute Lawan and Emenalo in court.