by Stanley Azuakola

To be sure, Farouk Lawan is still innocent until proven guilty. Lawan has been accused by Femi Otedola, the business mogul, of soliciting and receiving bribes amounting to $620,000, allegations which he has both denied and confirmed. Public opinion has swung fully against him, but in the eyes of the law, he is still not guilty yet. Things are getting direr for him though.

On Tuesday June 12, Lawan’s chief accuser, Femi Otedola appeared before the Police Special Task Force. The reason for his visit was simple –to tell the police same thing he had told the media only a day before, that he was the main actor in the sting operation which exposed Hon Farouk Lawan.

Otedola had revealed on Monday how he was approached by the chairman of the fuel subsidy probe committee, Farouk Lawan, to pay $3 million in order for his company to be exempted from the report indicting companies involved in the subsidy racket.

At the Force headquarters on Tuesday morning, Otedola told the Special Task Force that all he had said about the issue so far was the truth. He reiterated that Lawan collected $500, 000 in cash from him, while the secretary of the committee, Boniface Emenalo, also collected $120, 000 in two instalments of $20, 000 and $100, 000 respectively. He said that all the bills were marked.

Following Otedola’s statement, the Police authorities, have tagged Lawan as the ‘prime suspect’ in their investigations and are expected to make their move anytime soon.

Otedola said he can’t be accused of being a bribe giver because the money in question was handed to him in its entirety by the State Security Service (SSS).