Lawan now admitting he took Otedola’s N96m bribe to expose him
Tuesday, June 12, 2012Omoba
CONTRARY
to his insistence on Sunday that he did not meet with or receive any bribe from
anybody, documents in possession of The
PUNCH showed that Chairman of the House of Representatives probe
panel on fuel subsidy mismanagement, Farouk Lawal, indeed accepted $500,000
from billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola.
Clerk
of the committee, Boniface Emenalo, also received $100,000 from the
businessman. The sums added up to the $600,000 bribery scandal rocking the
House committee which recently exposed how some subsidy thieves robbed the nation of
whopping N1.7trn
Farouk
and Emenalo, as the documents, mostly correspondence, indicated, however let in
the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, into the “attempt”
by Otedola to bribe them. Also, there were indications in the correspondence
that Lawan intimated the House committee chairman on Drugs/Narcotics and
Financial Crimes, Adams Jagaba.
Sundry
documents
In
one of the documents sourced by our correspondents in Abuja on Monday, Lawan,
in a letter to Jagaba, wrote, “Attached (to the letter) is the sum of five
hundred thousand dollars only offered to me with another promise of two
million, five hundred thousand dollars.”
Another
letter written by Emenalo to Lawan read, “I wish to inform you that I was on
his invitation, at the residence of their Chairman, Mr. Femi Otedola, in
Maitama (Aso Drive) this morning and he offered me the sum of one hundred thousand
US dollars in two bundles of $50,000 each. The money is herewith forwarded as
evidence.”
Another
letter, reference number,CR:3000/IGP.SEC/STF/FHQ/ABJ/VOL 2/309 indicated that
the IG directed “a discreet investigation into the matter.” The letter was
signed by Commissioner of Police, Special Task Force, Ali Amodu.
Both
Jagaba and the police on Monday declined comments on their involvement in the
matter. While Jagaba told our correspondent that he could not comment on the
matter on the telephone, spokesman for the police, Frank Mba, said he had yet
to get an update on the probe.
“I was unable to
reach CP Ali Amodu who is handling the investigation but I will get back to you
once I get an update on the matter,” he said on the telephone on Monday.
Obasanjo, Mark
view video
The
fresh insight into the bribery scandal came as The PUNCH learnt on Monday how the
video recording of the transaction between Lawan and Otedola had been shown to
President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice-President Namadi Sambo, former President
Olusegun Obasanjo, Senate President David Mark and House Speaker Aminu
Tambuwal.
Otedola
had revealed in an interview with THIS
DAY newspaper how he involved the security agents to supervise
Lawan’s persistent demand for a bribe from him. He also narrated how he
released a total sum of $620,000 to Lawan and Emenalo in three tranches, all
monitored and recorded by the security agents.
The
ad hoc committee chairman said in another letter that he did not raise the
issue of Otedola’s pressure on him on the floor of the House because it would
overshadow the essence of the fuel subsidy probe.
Lawan
stated in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The PUNCH on Monday
that, “I had
considered bringing this issue as a matter of privilege on the floor of the House
later today (April 24), but I am concerned that the controversy it will
generate will dwarf the contents of the report, which needs public attention so
that necessary reforms in the sector could be affected.”
The
ad hoc committee chairman added that Otedola issued veiled verbal threats
against him. He
said, “Given
the desperation of Mr. Otedola, handling this matter, in a firm but diplomatic
manner is necessary as he has also made some veiled threats which put me and
members of the committee in a delicate situation.”
The
ad hoc committee chairman also disclosed that the clerk of the committee,
Emenalo, had in a letter written to him on April 24, 2012, said Otedola offered
him $100,000.
Threat
allegation
Lawan
also stated that the police were aware of the offer of a bribe as the Acting
Inspector-General in a letter dated, May 9, 2012, directed the task force on
investigation to meet him.
Lawan
explained that in a letter dated May 31, 2012, he told the IGP that the matter
(bribe offer) had been referred to the relevant committee of the House for
legislative action. He said that he promised that the House would inform him
about the outcome of the legislative action.
According
to him, the IGP in a letter to the Speaker of the House, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal,
dated June 4, 2012, stated that a detailed criminal investigation had been
ordered into the matter.
In
the letter titled, “Investigation activities: Letter of invitation in a case of criminal
conspiracy and attempt to pervert the course of justice by offering gratification,”
the office of the IGP stated that “the Inspector General of Police has directed
a detailed criminal investigation into the matter.”
Calls
for investigation
The
President of the Campaign for Democracy, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, has however
called on the EFCC to investigate the bribery allegation against Lawan. Okei-Odumakin,
in an interview with one of our correspondents on Monday berated the EFCC for
not prosecuting those indicted by the committee.
She
said that while the anti-graft agency had found it convenient to prosecute the
Chairman of the House Committee on the Capital Market, it had found it
difficult to prosecute oil
thieves.
The
CD president said, “The EFCC is prosecuting Hembe with N600,000 estacode, yet
it has not done anything to the
subsidy thieves who stole the country broke.
“If
there is any allegation, it should be investigated. The EFCC should work rather
than play media shield.”
Also,
the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre on Monday called for probe of the
bribery scandal. This
is contained in a statement issued in Abuja and signed by executive director of
CISLAC, Mallam Auwal Ibrahim.
The
statement called on the National Assembly and the executive arm of government
“not to let the current scandal serve as a straw to bury the probe report under
the carpet”.
It
advised the leadership of the House to urgently institute a thorough
investigation into the alleged bribery and involve anti-graft agencies to also
probe the circumstances and reality of all claims.
“Those
indicted by the report may go to their wits’ end in order to rubbish an
exercise that is widely applauded by Nigerians in view of the nasty dealings it
uncovered”, CISLAC said.
A
lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay, also on Monday expressed shock over the bribery
allegation levelled against Lawan. Sagay, who spoke with one of our
correspondents on Monday said the development was saddening, describing it as a
tragedy which spelled doom for the future of Nigeria.
The
Save Nigeria Group asked security operatives to invite both Otedola and Lawan
for interrogation. Spokesman
for the group, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, said such an invitation was necessary to
clear the air about the allegation that Lawan collected $600,000 bribe from the
oil marketer. Odumakin said if it was ascertained that money actually changed
hands, the giver and the taker must be punished.
He,
however, advised Nigerians not to allow the issue to distract them from
demanding the prosecution of the subsidy
thieves.
Odumakin
said, “Both Otedola and Lawan should be invited by security agencies to
ascertain the veracity of this allegation. If it is true that money changed
hands, the giver and the taker must be punished.
Nigerians
must not allow this to distract them from the demand for the prosecution of the
subsidy thieves
which this latest video production by the Presidency clearly wants to achieve.”
Meanwhile,
our correspondents learnt on Monday that the EFCC was planning to use Otedola
as a prosecution witness against Lawan.
Sources
within the commission said though Otedola had not been officially queried over
the role he played in the bribery saga, it was said that since he carried the
security agencies along, he might be used to nail the lawmakers.
“Yes,
we may use Otedola as a prosecuting witness in the case. But we are still
carrying out our discreet investigation. When that has been sufficiently done,
then we will swing into action,” the source added.
Source : Punch Newspaper
0 comments