The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the conviction and five-year prison sentence of former House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee Chairman on Fuel Subsidy probe, Mr. Farouk Lawan. He was convicted of bribery in accepting $500,000 from businessman Femi Otedola.

In a unanimous ruling by a five-judge panel, the apex court dismissed Lawan’s appeal challenging his conviction as lacking merit. Lawan had argued the trial court erred by not allowing him to make a plea for leniency before sentencing.

The Supreme Court ruled the failure to allow an allocution did not invalidate the sentence. In June 2021, the Federal Capital Territory High Court had originally sentenced Lawan to seven years in prison after finding him guilty of demanding and collecting bribes.

The Court of Appeal in February 2022 upheld the conviction but reduced the sentence to five years. It discharged Lawan of two charges related to demanding $3 million but sustained the charge of receiving $500,000.

With the Supreme Court affirming the appeal court’s judgement, Lawan’s five-year jail term has been conclusively upheld. The former lawmaker has been in prison since 2021 for soliciting and collecting money to give favourable reports during a House fuel subsidy probe.