Trial of the former chairman, House of Representative Ad-hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy, Farouk Lawan, for allegedly obtaining $620,000 bribe from Femi Otedola, chairman of Forte Oil, will commence today.
A reliable source at the chambers of the prosecuting counsel for Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), authoritatively disclosed this to BusinessDay.
Lawan and Boniface Emenalo will be standing trial before Justice Angela Otaluka of a Federal Capital Territory High Court, Lugbe, on a seven-count criminal charge bordering on obtaining $620,000 from Otedola, in order to doctor the committee’s report in favour of Zenon Oil and Gas Limited.
The duo, who were first arraigned before Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi on February 2, 2013, before being elevated to the Court of Appeal, had the matter reassigned to Justice Adebukola Banjoko, where the matter was again reassigned to another judge, Justice Otaluka.
The ICPC had alleged that the accused persons conspired in April 2012 to demand $3 million gratification from Otedola to remove his firm from the list of oil companies indicted in the scam.
The prosecution team, led by Adegboyega Awomolo, had argued before the court, that the offence contravened the provisions of Section 26(1) (c) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, and punishable under Section 8 (1) of the same Act.
Emenalo was separately accused in count seven of receiving $120,000 as gratification from Otedola for the same purpose, an offence which violates Section 10 (a)(ii) of ICPC Act, 2000 and punishable under Section 10 of the same Act.
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