Billionaire businessman, Mr. Femi
Otedola, has been scheduled to appear as a prosecution witness before a
Federal Capital Territory High Court in Lugbe, Abuja, in the ongoing
trial of a former Chairman, House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on
Fuel Subsidy, Mr. Farouk Lawan, for alleged bribery.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and
other related offences Commission is prosecuting Lawan for allegedly
“corruptly” collecting $500,000 out of the $3m bribe he requested from
Otedola in exchange for the removal of the businessman’s company’s name
from the list of firms indicted by the House committee for allegedly
abusing the fuel subsidy regime in 2012.
The presiding judge, Justice Angela
Otakula, on Tuesday adjourned the case till March 7 and 8 to enable the
first prosecution witness, Mr. Boniface Emenalo, who was then secretary
to the Lawan-led committee, to conclude his evidence.
Otedola, the chairman of Zenon Petroleum
and Gas Limited, is expected to appear in court as the second
prosecution witness on either of the two days, depending on how soon
Emenalo concludes his own part.
Our correspondent learnt that Otedola
was initially scheduled to testify against Lawan on February 2, but the
businessman, who was somewhere within the court premises during the
proceedings, was said to have taken his leave when it was clear that
Emenalo was going to stay much longer in the witness box.
The lead prosecuting counsel, Chief
Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), was only able to tender some documents through
Emenalo on February 2 before the case was adjourned till Tuesday.
Emenalo returned to the witness box on
Tuesday but the case was stalled, as Awomolo informed the court of the
difficulties he encountered in his bid to pay for the certification of
the tendered documents as directed by the court.
Justice Otakula had on February 2
overruled the objection of the defence counsel, Mr. Sekop Zumka, to the
admissibility of the documents over non-payment of the certification
fees.
The judge had admitted the documents as
exhibits but subject to the payment of the fees, as she held that the
non-payment of the fees could not have rendered a document inadmissible
inasmuch as it was relevant to the case.
Awomolo said on Tuesday that the
National Assembly had no avenue for collecting such fees and sought for
extension of time to enable him to receive guidance on how to go about
it.
The judge granted the extension of time
and directed that the prosecution should go ahead to pay the fees to any
government revenue collector.
Before giving the directive, the judge
overruled a fresh objection raised by Lawan’s lawyer, Zuma, who had
insisted that the money ought to be paid to the National Assembly.
The judge thereafter adjourned the case till March 7.
Emenalo was initially charged along with Lawan with respect to the bribery charge.
Both of them were first arraigned before Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi, then of the FCT High Court on February 2, 2013.
But a later amendment to the charges by the ICPC saw Emenalo’s name removed as a defendant.
Lawan is now the sole accused person in the case.
The case was re-assigned to Justice
Adebukola Banjoko after Justice Oniyangi was elevated to the position of
a Justice of the Court of Appeal.
The case was further re-assigned to
Justice Otakula in Lugbe Division of the FCT High Court following the
withdrawal of Justice Banjoko from the case in November 2014.
The amended charges, comprising three
counts instead of the previous seven, now indicated that Lawan corruptly
asked for $3m from Otedola and did corruptly collect $500,000 from the
businessman.
The offences are said to be contrary to
sections 8(1)(a) and 17(1) (a) of the Corrupt Practices and Other
Related Offences Act, 2000 and punishable under sections 8(1) and 17(1)
of the same Act
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