A former member of the House of Representatives, Farouk Lawan, has been released from incarceration after serving a five-year sentence at Kuje Prison.
Lawan’s freedom from imprisonment comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s confirmation in January of the five-year sentence initially imposed by the Court of Appeal.
Lawan was convicted in 2021 for accepting a bribe of $500,000 from Femi Otedola, the Chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd.
In a unanimous decision, a five-member panel upheld the 2022 ruling of the Court of Appeal, which maintained Lawan’s five-year sentence concerning only the third count of the three-count charge he faced in the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The lead judgment, authored by Justice John Okoro and delivered by Justice Tijjani Abubakar, concluded that Lawan’s appeal lacked merit and was therefore dismissed.
On Tuesday, a video surfaced showing Lawan’s release from Kuje Prison.
