The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the five-year jail sentence handed to a former member of the House of Representatives Farouk Lawan for receiving a bribe of $500,000 from businessman Femi Otedola.
Justice Tijjani Abubakar read the judgment prepared by Justice John Okoro.
The five-member panel unanimously affirmed the February 24, 2022 judgment of the Court of Appeal which upheld Lawan’s sentencing to five years in respect of only count three on the three-count charge on which he was tried at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory.
Lawan was convicted and sentenced to prison in 2021 for receiving kickback from Mr Otedola who was at the time chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited.
Bribery: Court sentences Farouk Lawan to seven years in prison
Otedola: Appeal Court cuts Farouk Lawan’s jail term to five years
A three-member Appeal Court panel led by its president, Monica Dongban-Mensem, unanimously overturned the former lawmaker’s conviction for two of the three offences he was jailed for by the lower trial court.
After his appeal against his conviction and sentencing by the lower High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Lawan also got a reduction of his jail term by the appellate court from seven to five years.
This was as a result of his acquittal in respect of two counts which, each attracted seven years jail term at the trial court.
Lawan was left with a conviction for the third offence with five years’ imprisonment as punishment.
