The prosecution of Hon. Farouk Lawan for receiving $620,000 bribe during the probe of the fuel subsidy scam by the House of Representatives and leaving out the giver and Chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited, Femi Otedola, has been condemned by Northern youths
Reacting to the trial of Lawan, Alhaji Shettima Yerima, the President of Arewa Youths Consultative Forum, in a statement on Friday accused the Presidency of connivance and bias in the handling of Otedola/Farouk saga.
Yerima said by isolating Lawan for prosecution and tacitly dumping the House of Reps fuel subsidy probe resolution, the Presidency appeared desperate to tilt both the subsidy scam and bribery scandal in favour of Otedola, described by the statement as the Presidency’s protégé.
Yerima equally accused Otedola of also trying to pervert the course of justice by maliciously sponsoring some notable activists to compel the Federal Government to charge Lawan to court over the bribery saga involving both of them and leaving him out.
He said under the law, the Nigerian Presidency has no justification to leave out Otedola from the ongoing prosecution of suspects in the bribery saga.
According to him, both givers and takers of bribes are conventionally culpable of bribery offence
Yerima said: “What is the intention of the contrived bribery by Otedola in the first place?
“Our structures have been inundated with reports of the subtle conspiracy between the Presidency and Mr. Otedola to undermine the House committee probe on fuel subsidy scam which found Otedola and his cohorts culpable
“We however, wish to warn the Federal Government not to compromise equity and justice in this matter.
“What is good for the gander is good geese.
“Femi Otedola must also be brought to justice for admitting masterminding bribery and for his alleged culpability in the fuel subsidy scam.”
Condemning what the group perceived as a ploy to discredit and jettison the House Report on the fuel subsidy scam on account of the masterminded bribery plot, the group urged the Federal Government to immediately commence action on the lawmakers’ resolution in order not to provoke its mass intervention in concert with other civil society groups.
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