EMBATTLED Chairman of the fuel subsidy probe panel in the
House of Representatives, Farouk Lawan, on Thursday surrendered himself to
police for interrogation over the $620,000 bribe he had confessed to receiving
from an oil marketer, Femi Otedola.
The lawmaker was subsequently
interrogated and detained along with the Clerk of his committee, Boniface
Emenalo.
Lawan arrived at the office of the
police Special Task Force at the Louis Edet House Force headquarters about 4pm,
in company with Emenalo and five lawyers.
The lawmaker was detained briefly
before he was taken to the interrogation room where detectives, led by the
Commissioner of Police in charge of the STF, Ali Ahmadu, quizzed him four
several hours.
As of the time of filing this report,
the diminutive legislator was still undergoing questioning.
The police on Wednesday had hinted
that they would declare the lawmaker wanted if he refused to give himself up for
interrogation on the bribery scandal
Otedoda had claimed that Lawan
demanded and received the money, being part of a $3m bribe deal, in order to
remove his Zenon Oil from the list of those indicted in a N1.7trn subsidy rot.
The businessman said Lawan collected
$500,000 in two tranches of $250,000 while he sent Emenalo to collect $120,000
at a later date.
However, on Monday Lawan, who had
denied receiving the bribe, confessed to have received the bribe but that he
only did so to expose Otedola.
Police sources told our correspondent
that immediately the lawmaker showed up at the STF office on the first floor of
the police headquarters, Ahmadu promptly went to the office of the Acting
Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, on the 7th floor to brief him
and take directives.
Two other senior officers,
namely the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of
Intelligence, Solomon Arase; and the DIG, Intelligence, Peter Gana, also joined
the STF boss in an emergency meeting with the Acting IG where the strategies on
the interrogation were said to have been discussed.
Abubakar, who initiated the
investigation into the bribery scandal, left his office around 6pm and later
came back apparently to get an immediate report on the interrogation of Lawan
and Emenalo.
Otedola had appeared before the STF
on Tuesday, where he was said to have written a detailed statement on his
encounter with the lawmaker and how he gave the bribe to him.
Meanwhile, barring last minute
changes, the House will at its emergency meeting on Friday (today) mandate its
Committee on Ethics and Privileges to probe the $3m bribery allegation against
Lawan. The lawmakers may also ask Lawan to step down from his committee
chairmanship position in the House.
Competent House sources said on Thursday that during today’s
emergency session, the House would ask the committee to investigate the
allegation and produce a report within two weeks.
“We are going to be fast and decisive
about this whole issue of bribery allegation. We have to act fast to douse the
unnecessary tension and the distraction this development has caused our
legislative focus”, a senior member of the House disclosed to one of our
correspondents in Abuja.
The lawmaker, who was privy to the
deliberations of the leadership of the House on the matter, explained that
Lawan’s case would be raised as “a matter of privilege” by members, following
which it would be referred to the committee for investigation.
An unconfirmed account said that
about 150, out of the 360 members of the House, were however pushing for the
suspension of Lawan, while some were advising against a “hasty penalty.”
There were those who suggested that
the matter be investigated first in the spirit of fair hearing.
There were indications also that two
other resolutions might be reached today by the House.
One o f the resolutions would be for
Lawan to step down from any chairmanship position he holds in the House.
Members are also said to have agreed to pass a resolution that anti-graft
agencies should investigate “all corruption allegations against Lawan in this
respect” and proceed to prosecute him and any accomplice if they are found
wanting.
Findings indicated that some
lawmakers had suggested that an ad hoc committee should conduct the
investigation, but the majority of the members favoured the Committee on Ethics
and Privileges.
“The committee is a standing
committee of the House; this is the purpose it was set up.
“It was put in place to look into any
issue touching the individual or collective privileges of members of the
House”, the senior legislator who spoke with one of our correspondents, added.
When reminded that Lawan said he
hinted the Chairman of the House Committee on Drugs/Narcotics and Financial
Crimes, Mr. Adams Jagaba, of the bribe, the senior lawmaker described Lawan’s
action as an “afterthought.”
He added, “Lawan will step down
honourably (as chairman) but he may not be suspended from the House yet. The
principle of fair hearing demands that he will be given the opportunity to
defend himself.
“He should have reported to the House
immediately he collected the money. It is true that we asked him to investigate
the utilisation of fuel subsidy funds, but his mandate did not include taking
money from anybody.”
Meanwhile, it was learnt on Thursday that a private
television station in the country had been contracted to air today’s
proceedings live.
A source privy to the arrangement
told one of our correspondents that this was to discourage further speculation
on “what the House did or did not do.”
Deputy House Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor,
said today’s proceedings would be “transparent because we have nothing to
hide.”