Femi Otedola Says Farouk Lawan Demanded $3m Bribe From Him But Got $500,000

Mr . Femi Otedola Billionaire businessman and Chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited told the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Lugbe , Abuja on Wednesday that he did not mount pressure on a former member of the House of Representatives , Mr Farouk Lawan , to remove his company’ s name from the list of firms indicted for fuel subsidy fraud in 2012 .

Otedola, said rather , Lawan, the then Chairman of the House of Representatives Ad - hoc Committee on investigation into fuel subsidy regime in 2012 , got from him $ 500,000 out of the $3m the lawmaker demanded.

He testified as the fifth prosecution witness in Lawan’ s trial on bribery charges .


The businessman who was led by the lead prosecuting counsel , Chief Adegboyega Awomolo ( SAN ) , said , “ I could not have put pressure on him because Zenon Oil was not involved in the theft of the subsidy fund .
“ He did demand . And if he did not demand , why will he collect and expect a balance of $ 2 . 5 m ? He mentioned to me that the $ 3 m will be shared by himself and some other members of the House . ”

He said his company was not involved in the fuel subsidy regime and there was no basis for it to be indicted , but Lawan only demanded money from him as a means of extortion .

“ He mentioned to me that several companies that were involved in the scam were paying . And I reported to the DSS. ”
The Federal Government , through the Office of the Attorney -General of the Federation , is prosecuting Lawan on amended four counts of corrupt collection of $ 500 , 000 out of the $ 3 m bribe he allegedly requested from Otedola.

Lawan was accused of accepting $ 500 , 000 as bribe for the removal of Otedola’ s company ’ s name , Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited , from the list of firms indicted by the Lawan - led House committee for allegedly abusing the fuel subsidy regime in 2012:

Otedola told the court that he watched on the television how Lawan moved the motion for the removal of Zenon Oil from the list of indicted firms after receiving the $ 500 , 000 .

However , he said his company was actually delisted from the list as a result of the documents supplied to show its innocence .

The defence lawyer , Mr . L . Azuka , who is of the law firm of Chief Mike Ozekhome ( SAN ) , pleaded with the court to adjourn the case to afford them time to prepare for the cross- examination of the witness .

Granting the request , Justice Angela Otaluka adjourned till January 28 for the cross - examination .
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