Details of the testimonies of the suspended Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Monitoring of Subsidy Regime, Mr. Farouk Lawan, showed that he admitted taking “money” and “not a bribe” from oil businessman, Mr. Femi Otedola.

Lawan had appeared before the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges on Thursday.

The committee, which is investigating the $620,000 bribery allegation, is headed by Mr. Gambo Musa.

Findings indicated that the panel grilled the former Chairman, House Committee on Education for over fours hours, starting from 1.07pm.

Investigations showed that before the panel, Lawan tried to draw a distinction between money and a bribe.

He was said to have argued that he took money with the aim of exposing Otedola, not a bribe.

A source, who was privy to the details of the testimonies, said, “He told the committee that he took money to expose Otedola, as different from a bribe.

“In the statement he issued, where he admitted taking the money, he drew the attention of the committee to the fact that he was careful with his choice of words.

“Bribe was not mentioned in the statement, but money. Money he took to expose Otedola.”

Lawan reportedly tendered text messages and call logs to the panel as evidence that he did not initiate the transaction between Otedola and himself.

“From what he tendered, it seemed the transaction was not initiated by him.

“So, what the committee has decided to do is to confront the other parties to the case with the information Lawan has divulged”, the source, who pleaded anonymity, added.

Asked whether Lawan was in possession of the $620,000, the source said he replied that “a lot more information will be made available as the police and other agencies continu with their investigations. The truth is there.”

The source explained that because of the sensitive nature of the investigation, the committee later reasoned that it was not wise to make the inquiry public.

“Lawan has information and documents; he has text messages; he has call logs and other evidence.

“The committee didn’t want other witnesses to take advantage of a public appearance and work on their own testimonies.

“The committee wants to throw Lawan’s claims on other witnesses to see how they will respond.

“In that way, some conflicting information may come to the fore.

“The other witnesses too will be heard in camera and will be accorded the same protection as Lawan”, the source stated.

Lawan was discharged after four hours of meeting with the panel.

According to the source, the committee resolved to invite him again if the testimonies of other witnesses punctured his claims “or if there is the need to hear from him again.

“Otherwise, the committee is done with him.”

http://www.punchng.com/news/n96m-bribe-i-collected-money-not-bribe-lawan/

Bribe is the act while money is the means. Foools,,,

I very much agree with your point of view

can we see what is becoming of Nigeria,this man would have been beheaded,if it were in asia.He still has the gut to justify his action? God dey o

hehehehehehehehehehehe !!!! and the drama continues. I am even surprised this issue is still on, tot it would have been swept under the carpet by now. Anyhow make we sha dey watch dey go !!!

Hmmmmmmm. I laugh in German

Once again, and not for d last time , dey r playing us like fools. Dey ll dribble us back and forth untill we forget about d whole scandal, and den d subsidy probe is dead and facrook lawan is back 2 d house of reps and "life goes on"

scopusng: Bribe is the act while money is the means. Foools,,,

yes, u just said it

The Fuel Subsidy Probe was very sensitive, yet was made public..

The Nigerian Market Capital hearing was sensitive yet was made Public..

Why wont the Lawan case be made Public?! What are they trying to hide?! Or are they now realising that these Public hearing Charades dont fool Nigerians like they thought!!

I laugh in Swahili

Farouk who is a farouker is still lawaning that he did'nt farouk. SMH

Its well Oº°˚˚°ºO...dis matter still dey linger. #nollywoodscript!

Of course; you could never have collected a bribe...it was money all along...money kept for more than a month...How silly we were for thinking it was a bribe...

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another scintillating episode of Keeping up with FLawan!

The charade continues!

The guy must believe that this is Tales by Moonlight really. See highlighted portion of this excert.


The erstwhile chairman of the House of Representatives Ad Hoc committee that probed the federal government’s fuel subsidy regime, Rep. Farouk Lawan was, yesterday, grilled for hours by the special investigative committee of the lower House detailed to probe the $3million bribe allegation levelled against him.

Decked in sparkling white Agbada and a matching cap, Lawan sauntered into the packed meeting room at exactly 1: 07pm to a barrage of waiting cameras and seated members of the Ethics and Privileges committee.


“Oh, full house!” the embattled Lawan exclaimed upon sighting the army of newsmen.

Curiously, the investigative meeting which the House had promised would be held in the open turned out to be a closed one as newsmen were ordered out immediately the panel’s chairman, Rep. Gambo Musa Dan-Musa finished reading out a prepared statement.

“It is not a public hearing,” Dan Musa explained as newsmen were ushered out of the room.

The statement read in part, “The committee is set to carry out its assignment with a very high sense of commitment. We shall strive to be fair and just to all parties involved. It is our belief that at the end of the day, our report will meet the expectation of the House and indeed that of the Nigeria public.

http://leadership.ng/nga/articles/28497/2012/06/29/reps_grill_farouk_lawan_over_bribery_allegation.html

I don't like seasonal Movies.
This probe is becoming a seasonal movie which dont usually have an end.

Shame on farouk

yes it's true,u collected money n kept it in ur cap,,,,clap 4 urself

Pls,wats the difference.isnt bribe d act of collecting moni illegally.farouk is still farouking.

Farouk Lawan is a thief and Femi is a thief But Femi τ̲̅ђε̲̣̣̣̥ senior thief is smarter than Farouk τ̲̅ђε̲̣̣̣̥ junior thief...Now Farouk wants to use lawyer terms to change τ̲̅ђε̲̣̣̣̥ case but he can't deceive Nigerians...

ok

WAS HE ALSO TRYING TO EXPOSE otedOLE when he ask the house of rape abi na rep {rep demsef sha} to remove otedOLE's company name from the subsidy probe ? Kia dis aboki no go kill me

just scrutinize facrookz sentence

LAWAN: ' i took money not bribe '

YOU & I: ? ? ? ?

this man really believes that we all in 9ja are sheep

or are we?

Maybe he collected the money with the intention of collecting money and not with the intention of collecting bribe.
But will an ordinary citizen get fair hearing like this? Let alone speaking to defend himself in an investigation panel

Bribe is money provided it's quantifiable.

Business as usual.... These dudes never get tired of disgracing themselves and insulting our intelligence...before nko na bribe u go collect leave money??

English language!!

I beg leave dis man alone, wetin u do to those folks lik OBJ, IBB, EL RUFAI, AND D REST, I TINK IS because DIS MAN DIDNT GIV THEM PART OF D MONI, MTCHEWWWWWW

o.l.ila', what wil u have collected as bribe befor? The sky, Aircraft or may be 72 virgins, theif, b.ar.awo,ole, u.wi

We don't take bribe in naija we only collect money. daftness in itself should be a crime.

You collected money not bribe ? ok, for what ?

Farouk is just a huge disgrace to lawmaking. I always knew that this his age long quest for bribes will not survive this administration.

hmmm.. seems at d end of d saga, it'l b agreed farouk collected d money to implicate otedola while otedola gave d money to expose farouk, afterall no one knows whether d chicken or d egg came first. i luv nigeria!