The trial of former Chairman of the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy, Farouk Lawan, continued on Wednesday with a prosecution counsel, Adams Jagaban testifying in court.
Lawan is accused by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC of collecting gratification from oil magnate Femi Otedola amounting to $500,000.
Jagaban, a Kaduna State member of the House, told the court that Lawan’s claims that $620,000 bribe allegedly received from Otedola was handed over to him, were false.
He said that Lawan never visited him at about 3 am on April 24, 2012, as he told the court earlier.
Jagaban further said his job as former House committee Chairman on Drugs, Narcotic and Financial Crime was to supervise the activities of EFCC and NDLEA, as well as srutinize their budgets.
“We are empowered by the constitution to investigate matters relating to our committee when reported and refer to the Federal Government for further investigation,” he said.
Jagaban had appeared before the court as the fourth prosecution witness in Lawan’s ongoing trial.
Lawan was accused of accepting the bribe from Otedola in 2012, in exchange for the removal of the business man’s company, Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, from the list of firms indicted by the House committee for allegedly abusing the fuel subsidy regime.
Unknown to Lawan, Otedola had a hidden camera recording the moment when the lawmaker collected the $500,000 cash and stuffing it in his flowing dress.
The camera also caught Lawan hiding some of the dollar notes inside his cap.
The video clip which had gone viral on the social media has been submitted as evidence in the trial.