RED HERRING OVER FAROUK LAWAN

When I read the other day that Femi Otedola has
sued the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and
Farouk Lawan over the $620,000 bribery
allegation, I struggled at first to get the hang of
the suit. But it was to become clear to me soon
afterwards that Otedola is seeking redress for
the business losses he said he has incurred as
well as for the harassment and intimidation he
also said he suffered in the hands of Farouk
Lawan over the $620,000 alleged bribe money.
I was at a loss at first because Otedola's pursuit
seemed to me to be out of place. I had thought
that the issue before us is whether Lawan
collected the said $620,000 from Otedola or not as
alleged. This allegation, to the best of my
knowledge, is yet to be proved. Nobody has been
able to tell Nigerians and the world whether
Otedola actually offered bribe to Farouk or not.
That, to me, should be the matter. It is only when
we settle that that we can begin to take interest
in what Otedola has gone to court to seek. If I
were Femi Otedola, I would, by now stop
entertaining the people of Nigeria over the $
620,000 bribery allegation he leveled against
Farouk Lawan.
I say so because Otedola's case has reached a
dead end. The high drama which heralded it
some six months ago has petered out. Then,
Farouk Lawan was presented as a villain who has
demanded bribe from Femi Otedola in order to
shield his (Otedola's) companies from indictment
by the House Adhoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy
Management. Then as well, the story had all the
trappings of plausibility. But somehow, the
public show could not be sustained beyond one
week. The displays raised a number of questions
which discerning minds wanted to have answers
to.
For instance, Nigerians wanted to know if what
happened was a sting operation or not. But
nobody told them anything principally because
the State Security Service which was supposed to
clarify the matter remained mute. It has not
spoken till today. What about the money which
Lawan was said to have collected in three
tranches? Were they marked? If so, by who?
Nobody has provided answers to these
questions. Then again, if it is indeed true that
Lawan collected such money, why was he never
arrested as should have been the case if it was a
sting operation?
These numerous questions were not answered by
those who ought to. In the absence of answers to
these questions, we are left even more confused
than when we were first confronted with the
claims and counter claims. By now, those who are
still making an issue out of this matter should
realize that Nigerians are no fools. We cannot be
led by the nose with such impunity. For us to
take interest in this matter, we need to be told
credible stories. We need to know what
happened. Concerned authorities must speak up
in order to point the way forward. If they do not,
we will neither follow the story nor know how to
react or respond to further developments.
From the way the matter has gone so far, it is
evident that Nigeria is one huge theatre of the
absurd. How can a people wake up one morning
and be treated to such bizarre scenes only for it
to dissipate into thin air days or weeks later? Yet,
nobody cares to know what really transpired. It
is in the light of the fact that nobody has really
established any wrong-doing on the part of
Farouk Lawan or the Committee that Femi
Otedola is still scratching the surface in order to
be seen to be hanging on to something. I am not
impressed by this.
When therefore he decided to drag Lawan and
Tambuwal to court over the intimidations,
harassment and business losses he supposedly
suffered on account of the action of the fuel
subsidy committee, I got amused because that is
not supposed to be the substance of the matter.
If anybody were to be taken serious in this case,
we would have the person tell us what we need
to know. All these public shows and rigmarole
will lead to nowhere.