Farouk Lawan, a former chairman of the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee on Petroleum Subsidy, has been sentenced to seven years in prison.

Channels TV reported the high court in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) gave the verdict on Tuesday, June 22.

VAM News gathers that Lawan was found guilty of count one, two, and three bothering on corruptly asking for and obtaining a $500,000 bribe from Femi Otedola, in order to exonerate Zelon Petroleum and Gas Limited from the list of companies in the fuel subsidy scam.

For counts one and two, the court sentenced the former lawmaker was sentenced to seven years while for count three he was given five years. However, the sentences are to run concurrently.

The court also ordered that Lawan return the $500,000 to the federal government. Lawan represented Bagwai/Shanono Federal Constituency of Kano state, Farouk Lawan while in office.

According to Daily Nigerian, Lawan was arraigned by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) Lawan was at the time the House Chairman of the ad-hoc committee investigating the fraud around the oil subsidy regime in 2012.

The committee found Zenon Petroleum and Gas Company, an oil company belonging to Otedola, culpable of defrauding the federal government via spurious subsidy claims.

However, he allegedly demanded a $3 million bribe from Otedola to remove his firms from the list of companies indicted the fraud. Otedola allegedly videoed the lawmaker while receiving the said bribe.

In his defence, Lawan’s lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, told the court that the ICPC had failed to properly establish the defendant’s intent to commit the offence he was charged with.

He also said the video evidence was blurry and does not necessarily prove that the content of the envelope Otedola gave to Lawan was money but could have been anything else.