Alleged $600,00 subsidy bribe: I never collected money from anybody---Farouk Lawan

....says video clip is a caricature meant to blackmail him

The Chairman of the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy, Hon. Farouk Lawan, has denied media reports that a top member of the committee received $600,000 bribe from an oil marketer to influence the report.

Lawan told journalists in Abuja last night that he neither demanded nor collected money from "anybody in connection with the fuel subsidy probe."

In a situation where the Committee uncovered fraud over N1 trillion, Lawan said  it should be expected that the powerful cabal behind the high scale corruption in the oil sector would not only fight back but would fight dirty.

Denying ever meeting the unnamed oil marketer at the Abuja airport to receive the $600,000 first installment of what was said to be a $3 million bribe, an apparently angry Lawan said he had to leave the country when pressures were coming from high quarters to doctor the report to suit certain interest.

Lawan, in a statement bearing his signature and issued to newsmen, said: "My attention has been drawn to several newspapers and Internet stories alleging that a prominent member of the House Adhoc Committee on Petroleum Subsidy demanded and received the sun of $600,000 as bribe from an oil marketer.

"I wish to categorically deny that I or any member of the committee demanded and received any bribe from anybody in connection with the fuel subsidy probe and I believe this is evident from thorough and indepth manner the investigation was carried out and the all-encompassing recommendations produced therefrom as approved by the whole House.

"The general public is hereby reminded that during and after the investigations, we have severally raised alarm on pressures on us from different quarters. In particular, I wish to refer to the front page publication in the Leadership Weekend newspaper of 28th, April, 2012 captioned "Marketers offered subsidy committee plane-load of dollars" where we alerted the public that a marketer promised to fly in a jet loaded with US dollars which he "intended to share to both the House leadership and members of the Adhoc Committee" to influence the outcome of the report.

"The clarification is necessary in order to clear all the insinuations being bandied about and more importantly to enable Government concentrate on the implementation of the report.

"The present mudslinging is not unexpected in view of the caliber of people whose actions or inactions were found wanting in the report. I am aware that in their desperation to discredit the report and divert the attention of the public from the real issues of large scale fraud in high places established in our report, a video footage displaying a caricature of my person allegedly having a dealing with a marketer reminiscent of military ear when dignitaries were invited to the Villa to watch video clip of phantom coup involving Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is already in circulation.

"I wish to assure all Nigerians that the sanctity of our reports remains unassailable and it will be in the best interest of the country if the relevant authorities faithfully and consciously implement the resolutions of the House. No amount of red-herring and cheap blackmail will affect our resolve to act in the best interest of the country with all the available information at our disposal. No doubt, the last has not been heard".

Culled: The Nation