We have genuine reasons to believe that the suspended House of Representatives Lawmaker, Hon. Farouk Lawan may not be able to produce the marked $620,000 he allegedly collected from an Oil magnate, Mr. Femi Otedola.
The embattled lawmaker who is the Chairman of the House Committee on Education was released on bail at around 4p.m. yesterday evening.
He is also expected to hand over the $620,000 bribe to the police this week as part of a deal struck by power brokers with the special Police Task Force handling the bribery scandal.
A source however informed us that the former Chairman of Ad Hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy reportedly told his investigators that the dollars have been stolen.
A thorough search of his official residence in Abuja by security operatives only led to the discovery of $10,000, but it was not confirmed if this money is the marked dollars.
Also, Police zeroed in on Lawan’s bank accounts in search of the dollars, but they could not find transactions that can be tied to the bribe he was alleged to have taken.
Meanwhile, latest revelations indicate that Lawan visited the businessman on three occasions, and he drove himself in a C-Class Mercedes Benz.
For each occasion, five video recordings averaging durations of eight to 10 minutes were made.
The lawmaker negotiated the terms of the bribe with Otedola over lunch on the first visit, the source said. He later received the first part of $250,000 on the second visit, which was around 11p.m. Then, he got the second part of the money on the third visit which was around 5.05a.m.
Dressed in a green agbada and a sokoto, Lawan stuffed the wads in his pockets and under the cap, possibly to conceal the package from Otedola’s domestic aides since they hadn’t seen him enter with a bag, the source said.
“In the video, Lawan was clearly seen stuffing wads of dollar bills into his pocket. When his pocket was full, to the utter shock of those who watched the video, he removed his cap and concealed the remaining wads of dollar bills inside it and replaced the cap on his head,” the source said.
“Nigerians will reel with laughter if they ever get to watch this video. It is on the one hand hilarious, and, on the other hand, shameful.”