Petrol subsidy scandal: Ex-Rep member, Farouk Lawan leaves prison after serving 5-year jail term

• His imprisonment was not unconnected to his involvement in the bribery and fuel subsidy scandal that rocked the nation over a decade ago.

A former member of the House of Representatives, Farouk Lawan, has regained freedom after completion of his five-year jail term in Kuje Prison.

His imprisonment was not unconnected to his involvement in the bribery and fuel subsidy scandal that rocked the nation over a decade ago.

Lawan was convicted and sentenced in 2021 for accepting a $500,000 bribe from businessman Femi Otedola, Chairman, Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd to exonerate the company of wrongdoing in a fuel subsidy corruption probe led.

The Supreme Court had in January upheld the five-year jail term handed to Lawan by the Court of Appeal.

In a unanimous judgment, a five-member panel affirmed the 2022 judgment of the Court of Appeal which upheld Lawan’s sentencing to five years in respect of only count three on the three-count charge on which he was tried at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

In the lead judgment prepared by Justice John Okoro but read by Justice Tijjani Abubakar, the apex court found that Lawan’s appeal was without merit and proceeded to dismiss it.

However, a video on Tuesday showed Lawan’s release from Kuje prison