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| Farouk Lawan defending himself of the $620, 000 bribe allegation |
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.
As
long as he is alive, Olusegun Obasanjo, will always be a factor in the
political affairs of Nigeria. Five years have gone by since he ceased
being president, yet there’s hardly a national issue in which he is not
directly or indirectly involved, or for which he does not at least have a
strong opinion about.
Concerning the matter of Hon Farouk Lawan, Femi Otedola, and the
alleged $620,000 offered to the legislative veteran by the business
mogul, Obasanjo’s name has unsurprisingly cropped up.
At a book launch less than a month ago, Obasanjo had been at his
fiery best when he blasted the National Assembly as being a arm of
government populated by rogues and armed robbers. As usual, some of the
parliamentarians went into a fit and threw histrionics which obviously
did nothing to faze the ex-president. Now it appears that Chief Obasanjo
was on to something when he made the scathing accusation.
Reports have emerged that Obasanjo was one of the first to lay hands
on the video recording of Hon Farouk Lawan allegedly collecting a bribe
from Femi Otedola and other officials of Zenon Oil in an State Security
Service (SSS) orchestrated sting operation.
It was Obasanjo, in fact, who briefed House Speaker Aminu Tambuwal on
the existence of such a recording, according to a Guardian report.
Tambuwal had paid a courtesy visit to Obasanjo with the aim of
expressing his reservations about the latter’s labelling of the
honourable members as thieves. Sources say the president listened to the
speaker with restraint, and when the speaker was done, Obasanjo
dramatically –as he is wont to do—revealed the can of worms about Hon
Lawan’s alleged bribery demand running into millions of dollars in
relation to the then ongoing probe of the fuel subsidy regime in the
House.
Tambuwal was shocked. When he returned to Abuja, he summoned and
confronted Farouk Lawan over the matter. Lawan denied the allegations,
but could not keep up the lie for long after he was fed with details of
all that transpired at the address where officials of Zenon Oil and Gas
allegedly gave him $500,000 in marked notes.
Interestingly, Lawan adopted this same strategy of first denying,
before admitting to accepting the $620,000 (N100 million) bribe when the
news first surfaced in the media.
