By: MURPHY GANAGANA

Monday, June 18, 2012

*Police in a fix over possible trial

Investigators yesterday said that Hon. Farouk Lawan at the centre of a $3 million bribe scandal over the fuel subsidy payments, was released under considerable pressure, Daily Sun has learnt. Lawan, suspended Chairman, House Committee on Education, was detained last Thursday when he eventually honoured a police invitation

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Indications also emerged that the Police Special Task Force (STF) investigating the scam involving the former Chairman, House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy payments, might have run into a hitch. The problem is on how to retrieve the "appropriately marked" 500,000 dollar bills vital for a successful prosecution.

Against the backdrop of perceived investigative and alleged operational blunders and inconsistencies in the statements of the suspects, a top police officer, who does not want his name in print, yesterday confided that the police had actually decided not to grant bail to Lawan until he produced the bribe money, but eventually caved in due to intense pressure and blackmail.

His words: "The police wouldn't have released him without recovering the exhibit, but there was serious pressure on the investigators and even the IG. We didn't want to grant him police bail; we wanted him charged to court with the exhibit so that the court can decide his fate.  But the pressure became too much and at a point, they were now turning the issue to appear as if it was a battle between the North and the West, and if not for our experience, they would have gotten at us. So, we had to grant him conditional bail with an undertaking to provide the money to us between Tuesday and Wednesday".

He said when asked by detectives at the STF during his interrogation on Thursday at the Louis Edet House Force Headquarters in Abuja to justify his claim of handing over the bribe money to Chairman, House Committee on Narcotics, Drugs and Financial Crimes, Hon Adams Jagaba, instead of appropriate security agencies, Lawan had no explanation, but said he made a mistake.

On how the trial may face some hurdles, it was the alleged failure of the State Security Service [SSS], which reportedly undertook the electronic video recording operation at the Abuja residence of the Chairman of Zenon Petroleum & Gas, Mr. Femi Otedola, to recover the bribe money at the scene of the incident.

Daily Sun checks revealed that though the STF investigators led by  Commissioner of Police Ali Ahmodu,  last Monday,  watched the video clips of how Lawan walked into Otedola's  residence and collected $500,000 being part-payment of the alleged $3million bribe, the fact that the money was said to be marked by the SSS, but not recovered immediately from the suspect, had triggered fears of prosecutorial blunders when the suspects are eventually arraigned.  

"The SSS which covered the operation said the money was marked before it was given to Lawan. The whole thing was electronically recorded, which was proper, but the mistake they might have made was not recovering the money from him on the spot. The standard operational rule in the security circle is that if marked money was given in an operation, you must recover it on the spot as evidence.

"Now, even if the money was actually marked, some people will instigate Lawan and tell him, don't bring out that money. Or even if he brings out the money since he had accepted collecting the bribe, though with a caveat, what of if the money surrendered is not marked", a source close to the investigators queried yesterday.

The source, who did not want to be named, said that alleged SSS' failure to avail police investigators with evidence that the money was actually marked had become worrisome.

He said: "The fact is that when money is marked for an operation, it does not mean that you paint the currency with colour; you simply record the serial numbers of all the notes given. We had expected that the SSS had followed this procedure, and if that was done, there should be no difficulty in providing us with the evidence even if they failed to recover the bribe money on the spot. That is why we are deeply worried".

After an initial denial, Lawan eventually accepted collecting $500,000 from Otedola, but claimed he kept the money under the custody of Hon. Jagaba, as an evidence of bribe given to him by the Zenon Oil Chairman. The police said Lawan was granted bail at the weekend after an undertaking to produce the exhibit money this week.

Interestingly, one of his counsel, Mr. Israel Olorundare (SAN), had reportedly denied the existence of such undertaking. According to him, "based on what Lawan told me, he said he wrote an undertaking to facilitate how to get to the Chairman of the House Committee on Narcotics, Drugs and Financial Crimes, Adams Jagaba, whom they want to ask questions about the whereabouts of the bribe sum. To the best of my knowledge, he did not say he will produce the bribe sum. Even in the undertaking, he did not give any time-frame when he will link up with Jagaba, but it might be before the end of next week."

Meanwhile, Lawan, who was suspended by his colleagues as Chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Ad-hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy Management, at an emergency session on Friday, has reportedly hired four Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs)including Olorundare to handle his case. He is expected to report today at the police headquarters for further interrogation.