Faruk Lawan remanded in prison till Feb. 8

Category: Lead stories Published on Friday, 01 February 2013 16:47

Former Chairman of the House of Representatives Adhoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy, Hon Faruk Lawan and House Committee Clerk, Boniface Enemalo, have been remanded in Kuje prison by an Abuja High Court.

The duo had been arraigned by the office of the Attorney General Federation (AGF) on a seven count charge for allegedly soliciting for and collecting a bribe of $620, 000 from Chairman of Zenon Oil, Femi Otedola,

The arraignment followed claims by Otedola that Lawan demanded a bribe to de-list his company Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd from firms indicted for fuel subsidy fraud.

Otedola claimed that he paid the sum to Lawan and Emenalo through a sting operation sponsored by the State Security Service (SSS).

In a seven counts charge filed before Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi on Wednesday, Lawan and Emenalo were charged under sections 26 (1), 8(1), 10 (1), 17 (1) and 23 (1) of the  Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act 2000.

Both men pleaded not guilty to the charges and after heated arguments and counter-arguments from Defence and Prosecution, the judge ordered that they should be remanded to Kuje Prison pending the court’s ruling on their bail application.

The court adjourned till February 8th, 2013 to rule on the bail application.