BRIBERY: Former lawmaker, Farouk Lawan released after serving 5-year prison sentence

A former federal legislator from Kano State, Farouk Lawan, has been released from prison after serving a five-year sentence.

He was convicted for soliciting and accepting a bribe amounting to $500,000 during his tenure.

Farouk Lawan

He was convicted for attempting to extort a $3 million bribe from Femi Otedola, a prominent billionaire oil tycoon in Nigeria.

This incident occurred while he served as the chairman of the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee investigating the fuel subsidy fraud scandal in 2012.

The case garnered widespread media attention, as it not only exposed the depths of corruption within the Nigerian political system but also raised serious concerns about the integrity of legislative oversight.

GistReel reports that Lawan was sentenced by a Federal High Court judge in Abuja, Angela Otaluka.

She found the former legislator guilty of all the three counts of bribery.

The judge declared in the course of reading the judgment that Mr Lawan’s conduct had elements of corruption.