A member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Adams Jagaba has denied any connection with the alleged bribe which the then Chairman of the House’s Ad-hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy, Mr. Farouk Lawan allegedly received from billionaire businessman, Mr. Femi Otedola, in 2012.
The lawmaker denied claims credited to Lawan that a certain sum of $620,000 from the bribe allegedly received from Otedola was reported and handed over to him with a covering letter by the ex-chairman of the House’s ad-hoc committee on petroleum subsidy.
The lawmaker representing Kachia/Kagarko Federal Constituency of Kaduna State also said Lawan never visited him at about 3am on April 24, 2012 as claimed.
The 57-year-old Jagaba refuted the numerous claims credited to Lawan before Justice Angela Otakula of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Lugbe, Abuja, on Tuesday May 9th, 2017. Jagaban had appeared before the court as the fourth prosecution witness in Lawan’s ongoing trial.
The Federal Government is prosecuting Lawan before the court on three counts of a corrupt collection of $500,000 out of the $3m bribe he allegedly requested from Otedola.
Lawan was accused of accepting the bribe in exchange for the removal of Otedola’s company’s name, Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, from the list of firms indicted by the House committee for allegedly abusing the fuel subsidy regime in 2012.