A former member of the House of Representatives Farouk Lawan has regained freedom after serving a five-year jail term for asking and taking a $300,000 bribe from businessman Femi Otedola.
He was released from the Kuje Correctional facility in Abuja on Tuesday.
“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,” he said in a statement he signed.
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 former lawmaker, who was the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Fuel Subsidy, bagged the jail term for seeking the said amount from Otedola while probing the multi-billion naira fuel subsidy fraud in 2012. In 2021, the Court of Appeal in Abuja sentenced him to a five-year jail term and discharged him on two out of the three counts on the corruption charge brought against him by the Federal Government.
He was also ordered to refund $500.000 to the Federal Government.
Lawan appealed the verdict at the Supreme Court.
However, in its judgment in January 2024, the apex court upheld the verdict.
While giving the lead judgment which was prepared by Justice John Okoro but read by Justice Tijjani Abubakar, the Supreme Court held that Lawan’s appeal lacked merit.
The court, therefore, dismissed it.
