**I want to use the Bribe as evidence against Oil Cabal.
Farouk Lawan, the man at the center of the 'caught on camera bribe' now claims that he only collected the bribe to use as evidence against the oil cabal but his colleagues are not buying his story because he waited until he was exposed to make the claim and did not inform any member if the house until the security services blew the lid of the deal.
Also, more details are emerging as to what transpired. The whole saga began after the SSS got a tip that the House Adhoc Committee probing the Fuel Subsidy regime had been receiving bribes from different quarters to influence their report and sex it up to embarrass the government. continue...
Investigations then commenced which established the truth of the matter. At this point a plot was hatched to entrap the chief bribe taker, which was the head if the commitee, Farouk Lawan.
A camera concealed in a pen was handed over to Femi Otedola, CEO of Zenon Oil, who had a meeting with Farouk Lawan whbe negotiated a $3 Million dollar bribe with Otedola and collected a down payment of $600K.
Lawan then kept quiet and concealed receipt of the money from all and sundry and after the report was released he approached Otedola to collect the balance of his money. It is known that Lawan plans tocontest for Kano State governor in 2015 and needs a financial war chest for the contest.
However, when the scandal broke, Lawan in an attempt to turn the case against him approached a member of the House's Committee on Narcotics and Financial Crimes to appeal to them to tender the money he collected on-camera as evidence of an attempt to bribe him, but the committee members refused to be used claiming that they could only have agreed had Lawan come to them before the scandal blew open.
Meanwhile, Lawan's commitee members have expressed disappointment in the fact that Lawan could collect such a huge sum without putting them in the picture.
In related news, the House Spokesman, Hon. Zakari Muhammad, has issued a statement washing the hands of the House of the Farouk Lawan bribery and stating that the House will not cover up anybody's alleged crime and would allow the rule of law to run its course.
The allegation of the bribery blew open after former President Olusegun Obasanjo alleged that there were thieves and armed robbers in the National Assembly and state legislative houses, and the Speaker of the House Hon. Aminu Tambuwal travelled to the former president’s Ota residence to seek audience with him over the statement.
It was gathered that Obasanjo showed Tambuwal a certain video recording which showed the committee member collecting a huge amount of foreign currency ( said to be $600,000) from some oil company officials.
Tambuwal was said to have been rudely shocked by the video Obasanjo showed him to justify why he made his controversial allegation against the lawmakers.
It was gathered that the Speaker confronted the committee member over the issue in a meeting of principal officers of the House where he had been summoned to defend himself.
There were speculations, at the weekend, that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had invited the House adhoc committee member for interrogation but this could not be confirmed.
Reacting to the scandal, yesterday, the Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mohammed, in a statement, said “The attention of the House of Representatives has been drawn to reports alleging that one of its members, has, in the course of his committee work as a member of the ad hoc committee which investigated the subsidy regime, allegedly received a gratification from an oil baron to exonerate his companies from complicity in the oil subsidy scam.
“While we await investigation into these weighty accusations, we wish to state without equivocation that this Honourable House will never take side with corruption and we will always stand on the side of the rule of law.
“The reason we inaugurated the ad hoc committee to look into the controversial subsidy regime in the first place was to expose corruption in the sector, as such, we cannot, for whatever reason, support any underhand dealing from any quarter.
“However, these accusations, what ever their merits, do not detract from the quality of the work done by the committee. The report of that committee was adopted by the whole House and we stand by the resolutions of the House.
“The present House of Representatives will not relent in it’s efforts to render quality legislation and oversight functions to Nigerians. Today, we are gradually beginning to see the end of this monstrosity that has bedeviled our progress as a nation for so long.
“We hope that the Executive will not, because of this allegation, abandon it’s commitment towards bringing to justice, the culprits already identified in the committee’s report.”
It would be recalled that the Speaker had heaped praises on the Committee when it submitted its report which was subsequently adopted by the entire House”.
It is a Big Shame, for a Youth we so much admired, will soil himself to this level.
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