Former House of Representatives member Farouk Lawan has publicly thanked President Bola Tinubu for granting him a presidential pardon, marking a significant step toward redemption for the once-disgraced lawmaker.
The pardon, announced Thursday following the National Council of State’s endorsement, clears Lawan’s name from the 2012 fuel subsidy bribery scandal that derailed his career.
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.
He was convicted in 2021 and sentenced to five years in prison for demanding and receiving $500,000 from oil tycoon Femi Otedola. Lawan served his term.
Now 65, the Kano-born politician joins 16 others, including posthumous pardon for nationalist Herbert Macaulay and executed poet, Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa, in Tinubu’s expansive act of clemency.
“I am profoundly grateful to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for this profound act of mercy,” Lawan said in a statement released late Friday from his Kano residence. “It is a gesture of compassion that not only restores my dignity but reaffirms Nigeria’s commitment to second chances and rehabilitation. I have reflected deeply on my past mistakes, learned from them, and pledge to contribute positively to our nation’s progress.”
Lawan’s reaction underscores the emotional weight of the decision, recommended by the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM), chaired by Attorney General Lateef Fagbemi. The committee, inaugurated in January, reviewed 294 applications, prioritizing remorse and societal reintegration.
Among the pardoned are Anastasia Nwaobia, Hussaini Umar, and Ayinla Saadu Alanamu, alongside clemency for 82 inmates and sentence reductions for 65 others.
Political analysts hail the move as Tinubu’s push for justice reform, though critics question pardoning high-profile corruption figures amid ongoing subsidy probes.
Lawan’s statement reads:
“To a fatherly, compassionate, and decisive political leader, His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, God, and history shall remember you.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
