The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Thursday reduced the sentence of former House of Representatives member, Farouk Lawan, to five years.
Lawan was convicted by a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory,
FCT, on June 22, 2021, on a three-count charge of soliciting bribes,
agreeing to accept bribes and actually accepting a $500,000 bribe from a
businessman, Femi Otedola.
The High Court of the FCT, in a judgment by Justice Angela Otaluka,
sentenced Lawan to seven years on count one; seven years on count two,
and five years on count three.
But in a unanimous judgment on Thursday, a three-member panel of the
Court of Appeal, led by the court’s President, Justice Monica Dongban-
Mensem, quashed Lawan’s conviction on counts one and two.
The court held that the prosecution failed to prove both counts relating
to demanding for and agreeing to accept a $3 million bribe from
Otedola.
The appellate court found that the prosecution was only able to prove the
third count relating to his accepting bribe of $500,000.
