The $620,000 bribery scandal involving a federal legislator, Farouk Lawan and businessman, Femi Otedola, has entered a new phase with Otedola asking a court to order Lawan and three others to pay him N250bn in damages.
The suit coincides with petitions to the Inspector-General of Police by Lawan’s lawyers demanding a face-to-face confrontation between the lawmaker and the businessman.
The amount, Otedola says, will compensate him for the loss of patronage he has suffered as a result of an alleged intimidation by the National Assembly.
Listed as defendants in the suit number FCT /3839/2012 and filed on June 28, 2012 at the Abuja High Court, are Lawan, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal; the National Assembly and its Clerk.
There had been a raging scandal in which Otedola, who is the Chairman of Zenon Oil and Gas Limited, claimed that he paid $620,000 as bribe to Lawan, the suspended Chairman of the House Ad hoc Committee that probed the management of fuel subsidy regime in the country.
While Otedola said that he paid the bribe under pressure, Lawan claimed that he obtained the bribe in order to expose the businessman.
The businessman’s company which had been removed from the list of subsidy thieves on the request of Lawan has, however, been re-listed by the House following the outbreak of the bribery scandal.
Otedola, who is suing along with Zenon as the first plaintiff, said in his 28-paragraph statement of claim that the re-listing of Zenon on the list of indicted companies was an act of conspiracy.
He claimed that the alleged conspiracy by both Tambuwal and the National Assembly was calculated to embarrass him and his company.
In his statement of claim, Otedola states, “Notwithstanding the on-going Police investigations and the first defendant’s admission of receiving money from the second plaintiff, the second and fourth defendants conspired to relist the name of the first plaintiff to the list of indicted companies, to embarrass the plaintiffs and their corporate and business image.
“The plaintiffs shall contend at trial that the conspiracy by the second and fourth defendants (Tambuwal and the National Assembly respectively) to re-list the name of the first plaintiff on the list of companies indicted by the ad-hoc committee is without basis given that the committee’s finding was arrived at without proper verification of documents submitted by the plaintiffs to aid their enquiry.”
Otedola narrated how Lawan allegedly demanded $3m bribe in the course of the committee’s investigation and how he made several other intimidating calls that Zenon would be included on the list of indicted companies if he failed to comply.
He said the lawmaker did not relent in his demand for the bribe despite telling him that there was no basis for Zenon to be indicted by the committee.
He added that he later took to the advice of some unnamed security agencies which asked him to play along with Lawan.
He states further, “In the course of carrying out his assignment, the first defendant (Lawan) as head of the ad hoc committee set up by the second and third defendants contacted the second plaintiff (Otedola) and informed him that the first plaintiff ( Zenon) was going to be indicted by the ad hoc committee for purchasing foreign exchange from the Central Bank of Nigeria without importing petroleum products unless the plaintiff parted with a bribe of $3m.
“The first defendant continued to make harassing phone calls to the second plaintiff calculated at intimidating the plaintiffs to meet the unlawful demand of the first defendant for bribe
“The second plaintiff faced with the first defendant’s unrelenting barrage of intimidating calls became distressed and contacted the security agencies to report the first defendant’s conduct
“The plaintiffs were advised by the security agencies to play along and hand over marked notes to the first defendant and his cohorts for the purpose of gathering evidence of their nefarious activities.”
In the purported sting operation, Otedola states that out of the $620,000 bribe, $500,000 was taken personally by Lawan on April 24, and that $120,000 was handed over to the clerk of the committee, Boniface Emenalo.
He also says that he would produce “all call logs and audio-visual records of conversation and/or meetings” held with Lawan to prove his case.
He states, “On April 24, 2012, the sum of $500,00 was handed over to the first defendant by the second plaintiff.
“At the request of the first defendant, a further sum of $120, 000 was handed over to Boniface Emenalo by the second defendant.
“On the morning of the April 24, 2012, the first defendant persisted in making intimidating phone calls to the plaintiffs harassing them to pay up the balance of $2.380m.
“As a result of the distress caused to the plaintiffs by the first defendant’s persistent calls, the plaintiffs reported the matter to the police which invited the first defendant and the plaintiffs for investigations.”
Otedola, dissatisfied with the reappearance of Zenon on the list of indicted companies, has therefore made the claims against the defendants “jointly and severally”,
“The sum of N100 billion against the defendants as general damages for the acts of intimidation; loss of goodwill and patronage, occasioned by the acts of the defendants; and a separate “sum of N150 billion against the defendants as exemplary damages for their oppressive and arbitrary action.”
He states, “The action and conduct of the defendants were oppressive and arbitrary and thereby also resulting to the plaintiffs suffering substantial loss to their reputation, goodwill and business.”
Hearing date has not been fixed for the case and it has not been assigned to any judge.
In a reaction on Sunday, the House said that it was ready for Otedola and would assemble a legal team to meet him in court.
However, it clarified that no court summons had been served on it as at Sunday (yesterday).
The Chairman, House Committee on Media, Public Affairs, Mr. Zakari Mohammed, noted that as a Nigerian, Otedola was free to express his views or take action on any issues he strongly disapproves of.
“He is free to go to court; he is a Nigerian. We are ready for him and he will hear from us when we receive accourt summons.
“However, as we speak, I am not aware of any court action taken against the House. This is weekend; but he will hear from us when we get the summons”, Mohammed added.
Culled from Punch
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criminals
ReplyDeleteI need to be tutored on ds pls. Do people give bribes when they av nothing to hide????
ReplyDeleteHe didnt give bribe willfully but was forced to do so by lawan and he reported to the authority that is it.
ReplyDeletehe Lawan only collected a little amount of money (Naira) not Bribe, just sit back and watch Naija Eastenders (Abujaenders) unfold
ReplyDeleteAll are accredited and charttered criminals
Otedola is a criminal who built his empire with stolen subsidy money. You don't give bribe when you are innocent. He wants to divert attention from d issue.
ReplyDeleteHow was he forced to give the bribe; at gun point! how else will you use the word 'force'? If he really was clean, an audio visual would simply have sealed the case and probably an arrest immediately he received the amount so as to confirm the intention.
ReplyDeleteWhere will all these end up at? After a days struggling because of money, will Otedola go to heaven with these money? I dont want to read any rubbish anymore, i still believe that Lawan is innocent. That man has his own ambition and wouldnt want to jeopardize his political objectives just because of a "mere" bribe from an oligarch whose name was already deleted out of the subsidy list. You guys can see it clearly that all these is happening because of "money". While the downtrodden are suffering here and there looking for a 3-square meal and comfortable job.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the downtrodden are looking for food and you cannot be more correct that Lawal has his ambition but I think you missed it by saying that Lawal is innocent. Tell me, how can an innocent and Mr. Integrity collect bribe (he has acknowledged that he did) and kept it for more than one month and did not say anything until the giver talked? Why was Zenon Oil included in the indicted list and on what basis did he ask the House to remove Zenon Oil after the probe? The law says receiver and giver of bribe are criminals. What needs to be established is if the bribe was a sting operation as Otedola claimed. If it is not the both Lawal and Otedola are guilty and should be severely punished without recourse to their status.
DeleteObviously, this same 'story' will go the same way others have gone. i.e, the probe of Elumelu and the independent power probe scandal.
ReplyDeleteif you have not commited any crime i dont see why someone will just come and force you to give him bribe,this is the way i look at it .except if i did not read it correctly
ReplyDeletemay we not become stupid cos our so called leaders want to be.Security operatives asked Bros to take marked money to Chairman of the committee and after accepting the bribe he was not arrested immediately. time passed and Bros company name was removed from the list. then issues came up and Bros decided to shout using whatever evidence he already had for God knows how long and committee adds Bros company name again. TALES BY MOON LIGHT.
ReplyDeleteGod will soon expose the enemies of Nigeria Progress,watch out for the show.
ReplyDeleteYES U DID NOT READ IT CORRECTLY! LAWAN NEEDS MONEY TO STEP-UP POLITICALLY HENCE HIS ACTIONS. OTEDOLA IS NOT A SENT LIKE ALL NIGERIAN POLITICAL PETRONS BUT IN DIS CASE HE IS CLEAN.
ReplyDeleteLAWAN U USED TO BE MY MAN BUT AM DISAPPOINTED!
MAY GOD HELP US IN DIS COUNTRY,AMEN!
I still await the name of the 'security agency' that organized the 'sting' operation with Otedola, and the one that did it with Lawan. And why are they silent?
ReplyDeleteAction 1::
ReplyDeleteWhy did Lawan go on to remove Zenon from the list when he now claims he collected money and not bribe? From Lawan's action, it shows the money is a bribe. Lawan should stop fooling himself.
Action 2::
How would Lawan defend the video/Audio coverage of him while collecting the bribe(no mere money)? Learnt he collected it secretly.
Action 3::
If Otedola has all his documents as an evidence of a legitimate business, why would he be foced to give money(bribe)?
He shouldn't have fallen to the pressure(force) of listing his name if he is truly innocent. He should have waited patiently to prove his innocence.
Action 4::
What otedola is doing now (by going to the court) is what he should have done without giving any money. Am sure he would have won.
From view/opinion, Lawan and Otedola are both criminals and should be punished.
Odetola = Guilty; so gives bribe to remove Zennon oil from black list
ReplyDeleteLawan = Guilty; collects bribe and removes Zennon oil from black list
The outcome of the saga depends who's godfathers have the most juice!!!
Interestingly, these 2 individuals would still be honoured at public functions, asked to chair occasions and give public speeches.
If Otedola had not conceded to give Lawan bribe,he would not have been exposed no matter what Otedola says without a proof.
ReplyDeleteOtedola is acting like a drowning man. a company must have a resolution before embarking on any of these actions (Giving money to Lawan or going to court)Does it mean Zenon is strictly a one man affair? Even the GM does not have say? They should act and save themselves from the mess Otedola is gradually pushing them into. The key quality of a thief is GREED. NASS giving out 250b naira to Otedola for investigating his loot? What sort of senses and sensibilities run in our brains?
ReplyDelete~~~and the beats goes on!
ReplyDeleteThis is a case of a kettle calling pot black! Otedola o, Lawan o, the Legislooters o! They are all OLE, JAGUDA, BARAWO, OYENOCHI! Shegeeeee!
ReplyDeleteTALES BY MOON LIGHT INDEED. REVOLUTION IS STILL THE ANSWER,BELIEVE IT OR NOT.
ReplyDeleteFor all I care, the person I see as the real thief here is Lawan. Otedola is a businessman, he has been caught in the act and should have been exposed only for Lawan ( the person we chose as a law maker) to be asking for bribe. For all that is saying why did Otedola give bribe, I would think though he is guilty, the worst of the guilt is on our law makers. If you watched the Video weeks ago where Lawan asked for the name to be removed, infact you will know that this Lawan guy is a real thief. After all the grammar he blew and then asked for the name to be removed, one of the law makers even asked to be sure if he actually made a mistake or for real. Pls search and watch that video. He went ahead and said Yes! It should be removed. So to me I don't think we should blame Otedola even though I am not saying he is not guilty but the worst of them all is a LAW MAKER, a CHAIRMAN OF THE INTEGRITY COMMITTEE, who decended so low and lost his glory.
ReplyDeleteGod help us