Farouk Lawan, a former member of the House of Representatives, received a five-year prison sentence from the Court of Appeal, which was upheld by the Supreme Court.
Lawan accepted a $500,000 bribe from billionaire Femi Otedola, Chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd., and was found guilty and given a prison sentence in 2021.
A five-member panel on Friday unanimously confirmed the Court of Appeal’s 2022 ruling, which had maintained Lawan’s five-year sentence for just count three of the three counts he was tried on at the Federal Capital Territory’s High Court.
Judge John Okoro wrote the lead judgment, which Justice Tijjani Abubakar delivered on Friday. The apex count determined that Lawan’s appeal lacked merit and dismissed it.