THE Chairman of the House of Representatives probe panel
on fuel subsidy management, Farouk Lawal, on Wednesday failed to show up at the
police headquarters for interrogation.
An highly placed source in the police
told our correspondent that the Force had concluded arrangement to declare the
lawmaker wanted.
Acording to the police, there is
enough evidence to declare the lawmaker wanted over the allegation by
billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola, that Lawan took $620,000 bribe from him.
The Special Task Force investigating
the bribery allegation waited in vain for the dimunitive lawmaker at the Force
headquarters, Abuja on Wednesday.
A member of the investigating team,
who spoke to our correspondent in confidence, said the police had enough
evidence against Lawan, including the video, which he said contained what
transpired between him and Otedola.
The source said the STF would invite
other oil marketers who allegedly gave bribes to Lawan, for interrogation.
“The police expect him (Lawan) to
honour the invitation, but, anytime from now, we will declare him wanted, if he
does not show up. We have enough evidence to proscute the case, but we believe
we can handle the matter in a civilised manner and that is why we invited him
to come and help us with information on the case,” the member of the
investigating team said.
The source said that Lawan had since
June 4, 2012, been invited by the police to assist them in the investigation
into the bribery scam.
Otedola, who was also summoned by the
police, 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.
Another source explained that investigators
had watched the video of the encounter between Farouk and Otedola, adding that
the STF was convinced that the lawmaker had “a big case” to answer.
“The audio and video evidence before
us strongly showed that Lawan has a case to answer because he was graphically
seen accepting the money. We also saw Boniface Emenalo in the video wearing
‘resource control’ attire and pocketing dollar bills,” another source
confirmed.
Lawan had on Monday said the video
was doctored and that what was seen was his ‘caricature.’
Sources within the police confided in
our correspondent that the investigating team strongly believed that Lawan had
fleeced other oil marketers in the course of executing his committee’s mandate.
Our correspondent gathered that the
police were sure that Farouk had fleeced other oil marketers in the course of
carrying out his committee assignment.
“Some marketers, who allegedly bribed
the committee will also be invited for interrogation,” a member of the STF
said.
The Acting Inspector-General of
Police, Mohammed Abubakar, was said to have shown serious interest in seeing
that the case reached a logical conclusion. But according to a senior police
officer, the IG wanted due process to be followed, hence the invitation to both
Lawan and Otedola.
STF investigators were said to be
angry that Lawan was trying to delay their work by not honouring the invitation
and keeping the exhibit away, but the IG was said to have insisted that due
process be followed, no matter the time it took.
Detectives handling the case said the
lawmaker had no reason to take the exhibit to the House chamber. They wonder
whether the House of Representatives had become a police station where exhibits
are kept.
Head of the STF, Ali Amodu, had, in a
letter dated June 4, 2012, written to the Speaker of the House, Mr. Aminu
Tambuwal, stated that the IGP had ordered a detailed criminal investigation
into the bribery allegation.
He had also sought the assistance of
the Speaker for Lawan to appear before the investigating team.
Before the June 4 letter, Amodu had
written Lawan on May 16, requesting the money exhibit, names of witnesses and
other material evidence from him.
Deputy Force Public Relations
Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, could not be reached on Wednesday for comments. His
mobile phone was switched off.