Farouk Lawan thanks Tinubu for presidential pardon

Farouk Lawan thanks Tinubu for presidential pardon

Former House of Representatives member Farouk Lawan has thanked President Bola Tinubu for the presidential pardon bestowed upon him, stating that the gesture has “renewed” his hope.

Lawan is one of the 175 persons granted presidential prerogative of mercy on the approval of the Council of State based on Tinubu’s recommendations on Thursday.

Other prominent beneficiaries of the pardons include one of Nigeria’s founding fathers, Herbert Macaulay and former FCT minister in the General Ibrahim Babangida military regime, Maj-Gen. Mamman Vatsa (retd.).

In a statement issued after the pardon on Thursday night via his Facebook account, Lawan praised the president as “fatherly, compassionate, and decisive.

He said, “To a fatherly, compassionate, and decisive political leader, His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, God, and history shall remember you,” the statement reads.

“Mr President has cast a warm blanket over me, pulling me back from the harshness of yesterday’s cold. A day like this is not for a long treatise.

“I lie, prostrate utterly humble in my heart and entire being, grateful for the mercy which Allah (SWT), through Mr President and my country, have shown me.”

Lawan, who represented the Bagwai/Shanono constituency in Kano State, was at the centre of a widely publicised bribery scandal in 2012 when he was accused of demanding $3 million from businessman Femi Otedola to remove Zenon Petroleum from an alleged list of companies involved in petrol subsidy fraud.

Video footage of Lawan handling large sums of cash fuelled public outrage at the time, and he was later arraigned by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.

A Federal Capital Territory High Court convicted Lawan on three counts on June 22, 2021 and sentenced him to seven years in prison.

In February 2022, an appellate court acquitted him on two counts but upheld one conviction and reduced his sentence to five years. The Supreme Court affirmed that verdict in January 2024, and Lawan was released in October 2024 after serving his term.

“During the eclipse at noon of my life, a path designed by destiny, a past with which I am fully reconciled, my family, friends and associates stood by me through thick and thin, their light became my singular unfailing beacon. I remain eternally indebted to you. May Allah (SWT) recompense you,” the former lawmaker said in the statement.

“Throughout those moments of sober reflection, my faith in the greatness of our Fatherland never wavered, nor did my resolve to contribute to it ever weaken. A re-dedication to the ideals of Nigeria is upon me. My hope is renewed.

“My family and I, along with my friends and associates in Kano State and across Nigeria, are indescribably grateful to Mr President for drafting me back into active citizenship with its unavoidable service imperative.”