The Supreme Court has scheduled January 26, 2024, as the date for judgment in the appeal brought by former House of Representatives member Farouk Lawan, who is currently incarcerated.
Lawan is challenging the February 24, 2022, judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which sentenced him to a five-year prison term while discharging him on two of the three counts related to a corruption charge brought against him by the Federal Government.
During the proceedings, Lawan’s counsel, Joseph Daudu, had applied for bail on the grounds of his client’s deteriorating health. Daudu argued that Lawan was suffering from stage three prostate cancer and expressed concerns about the possibility of it progressing to stage four. Despite Daudu’s request to address the bail application first, the court chose to hear the main appeal.
In the main appeal, Daudu urged the court to set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal. He emphasized that since the Court of Appeal had discharged his client on two counts, the Supreme Court should also dismiss the third count.
Counsel to the Federal Government, Bagudu Sanni, called on the court to uphold the judgment of the Court of Appeal and dismiss Lawan’s appeal. The Court of Appeal had initially reduced Lawan’s potential maximum prison term from seven to five years.
Farouk Lawan was convicted by a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on June 22, 2021, on charges of soliciting a bribe, agreeing to accept a bribe, and actually accepting a $500,000 bribe from businessman Femi Otedola.
