News
Court reduces sentence of former lawmaker, Farouk Lawan, who collected bribe from Otedola
The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Thursday, ruled on the reduction of the jail term of a former House of Representatives member, Farouk Lawan, to five years
Lawan was convicted by a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on June 22, 2021.
This was on a three-count charge of soliciting bribes, after soliciting and accepting a $500,000 bribe from a businessman, Femi Otedola.
Consequently, Lawan was sentenced to seven years on count one; seven years on count two, and five years on count three by Justice Angela Otaluka of the High Court of the FCT.
But in a unanimous judgment on Thursday, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, led by the court’s President, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, quashed Lawan’s conviction on counts one and two.
READ ALSO: Court orders re-arrest of aphrodisiac seller, Jaruma, to be remanded in Suleja correctional centre
Furthermore, the court ruled that the prosecution failed to prove both counts relating to demanding for and agreeing to accept a $3 million bribe from Otedola.
The appellate court found that the prosecution was only able to prove the third count relating to the acceptance of a $500,000 bribe.
In the final ruling, the court acquitted Lawan on counts one and two (on which he was sentenced to seven years per count), but convicted him on count three (on which he was sentenced to five years).
More details later….
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...