Lawan Was Caught on Video Collecting $500,000 from Otedola, Witness Tells Court

Tobi Soniyi in Abuja

Second prosecution witness in the trial of former Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Ad-hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy, Farouk Lawan, on Wednesday told an Abuja High Court in Lugbe, Abuja, that Lawan was caught on video receiving USD 500,000 from Otedola.

The witness, David Igbodo, who is Commissioner of Police, Legal Services and Investigating Police Officer (IPO) in the office of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Special Investigation Unit, told the court that Lawan was caught on video, the product of a sting operation by the Department of State Security (DSS).

Testifying before Justice Angela Otaluka, David said after collecting 500,000 USD at the house of Femi Otedola on April 24, 2012, Lawan proceeded to the House of Representatives and crossed out the name of Zenon Oil that was earlier indicted in a report before the Adhoc Committee.

He said: “I found out that on April 24, 2012 at about 3:47a.m. in the morning, the defendant was in the house of Otedola and was given the sum of 500, 000 USD and was caught on video due to the sting operation by the DSS.

“The purpose of the demand and acceptance was to remove the name of Zenon Oil and AP Petroleum from the list of indicted companies,” David told the court.

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