A former member of the House of Representatives Farouk Lawan has been released after completing his five-year imprisonment for demanding and receiving a $500,000 bribe.
He was released from the Kuje correctional facility in Abuja on Tuesday.
In a statement, he said: “Today marks the beginning of a new chapter in my life as I step out of Kuje Custodial Centre, with a heart full of gratitude to Allah SWT for seeing me through this trial.”
The former lawmaker thanked friends and family for their support in a “particularly trying phase of my life”.
“My gratitude is deep, I’m alive and in good health and high spirits to be with my family, friends, and associates. I don’t take that for granted,” he said.
“I remain grateful and indebted to my family and friends who stood by me through this particularly trying phase of my life.”
The Supreme Court upheld Lawan’s conviction on January 26, 2024.
A five-member panel of the apex court 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 Femi Otedola who was at the time chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited.
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 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.
