Bribery: Nigerian police quiz Lawan

Lawan Farouk, Member of the Nigerian House of Representatives accused of receiving a bribe of 620,000 dollars from oil magnate Femi Otedola, on Thursday appeared before a team of police interrogators at the force Headquarters in Abuja.

The Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Mr Frank Mba, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the lawmaker was with police interrogators at about 9:30 pm.”I can confirm that Hon. Farouk Lawal is with us. He came this evening and he is currently undergoing interrogation at the Force Headqurters here in Abuja.

“It is too early to say whether he will sleep with us or not as interrogation is still ongoing,”  Mba said.

For past several days, newspapers have been awash with counter-allegations by Farouk and Otedola on attempts to bribe members of the House Ad HocCommittee probing alleged malpractice in fuel importation and subsidy.

Farouk is the chairman of the Committee.

Otedola has accused Farouk of lobbying him to collect $3 million in order not to indict his company in the fuel subsidy probe panel report, while Farouk claimed that he collected the money not as ‘bribe’ but as an evidence that Otedola was trying to buy the committee.

Otedola had said he gave Farouk $500,000 at 4 a.m in April, and Farouk had gone ahead to exonerate his company at the plenary of the house, when the committee’s report came for adoption.

Farouk did not report the bribe to the police authorities. And he did not also declare it to the House.

The House has scheduled a plenary meeting for Friday, 15 June in Abuja.