Saturday, 30 June 2012 00:00

0 Comments

I read it a few days ago of somebody who stole less than N2,000 and two tins of milk and he was sentenced to death. What happens to the marketers fingered in the House of Representatives report?
Ibrahim Audu, Lokoja

What Nigerians must know is that Farouk Lawan was lured to go to Femi Otedola to collect the money. If he didn’t go, he could have been killed by some powerful people in government. Once they lured him, they found out that the video was a strong weapon to use to kill the House of Representatives report.
Adamu Biko, Kano

Both the giver and taker are guilty of bribe. Otedola and Lawan should go to jail.
Jackson Udenwa, Benin

So much for integrity. Can you imagine that Mr. Integrity is involved in a scam like this? Who is clean in this country self?
Femi Ojo, Ibadan

For Christ sake, where is this money? Are
security agents telling us that Lawan has not produced the money?
Rebekka Comfort, Ikeja

The moment Lawan was invited by the police and was granted bail, I knew that was the end of the case. How do you expect Lawan to tender the $620,000 cash, something that will be used to jail him in court?
Charles Oruami, Warri

There is no denying the fact that the Federal Government used Otedola to get at the House of Representatives but I don’t know why Lawan should fall cheaply like that. Bye bye to integrity.
Titus Amos, Osogbo

Is it only the House of Representatives that is in the National Assembly. On the Power probe, a member was indicted. On SEC probe, another member was indicted and is facing trial now. Farouk Lawan is the latest fall guy. Are members of the House of Representatives so greedy?
Goodluck Whitehorse, Yenagoa

Bribes are not new in Nigeria. Hardly a week passes without Nigerians reading one scandal or the order in newspapers.  These scandals, no doubt, damage our reputation abroad and hurts the  economy. When are we going to get it right?
Femi Olowosago, London

Is it true that Lawan stuffed some of the cash in his cap? Please, when can we watch this video?
Peter Ayilara, Ode-Omu

As you wrote, this sting operation is going to be the most expensive and watched video ever in the history of this country. I am ready to buy it once it is in the market.
Bola Olowoeyo, Akure

Between Otedola and Lawan, who is telling the truth? If Otedola’s company was not guilty in the first place, why bribe Lawan? Why didn’t he tell Lawan to go to hell if his company was not involved in shady deals? If in my place of work, somebody approaches me that look, you stole N10 million in the procurement department and I am sure that he was talking nonsense, I will even beat him up just to prove my innocence.

What Otedola should have done was to invite the police immediately Lawan was pressurising him for money. That is the sensible thing to do but by organising a sting operation and releasing the video two months after when Lawan had already gone and spent the money, I have a feeling that something is wrong somewhere.
Janet Adubarin, Lagos

Farouk is guilty as the word guilt. Initially, he told us that he didn’t collect anything from Otedola. Later, he said his image in the video was doctored. At last, he told Nigerians that he collected the money to expose Otedola. Haba Alhaji, Nigerians are not fools now.
Foluso Oke, Ikeja

If the truth must be told, I am sure Otedola recorded the transaction himself and used the video to get some contracts from the Federal Government. At least, he is a businessman.
Bayo Ajayi, Ado-Ekiti

Now that Lawan has been exposed, I can bet it with anything that it is the end of the whole drama. Is it not in Nigeria? Those investigating the matter will be swimming in dollars now. Is it just for the fun of it that policemen have not deemed it fit to invite Otedola publicly? Everybody wants a piece of the cake and I am sure they must have gone to Otedola in his house to get his own side of the story and in the process, they must have gotten their own settlement. I think I am in the wrong job.
Femi Williams, Lagos

If the report we read is true, then, there is nothing anybody can do to Farouk. Two of the policemen mandated to guard him released him to go home in the night and return in the morning. Do we have security agents at all? By releasing him to go home for a few hours, don’t you think he must have removed all traces of the money?

Olu Fakahinde, Ibadan

While the investigation by the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy was going on, was it proper for Lawan to contact Otedola directly? His motive in seeking such a direct meeting with Otedola on this matter is hugely questionable. Why didn’t he go there with other members of the committee? Why did he compromise his position that way? The answer is simple: greed is in the blood of the average Nigerian.
Dotun Okeowo, Lagos

I want to advise former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Patricia Olubunmi Etteh, to sue Lawan for defamation of character when she was sent packing in 2007.
Pius Ekanem, Uyo

Are these guys honourable? Should they sit in judgement over Nigerians? Do they have the moral right to enact any law for Nigerians? What is honourable in somebody who sneaks into a businessman’s house in the night, stuffing thousands of dollars into his pockets and cap while leaving?
Titi Ajani, Lagos

Nigerians should not just attack Lawan endlessly. Otedola himself has something to hide.
Alice Ukuma, Asaba

What happens to the Ad-hoc Committee report now? Is it still credible? The lawmakers said Otedola got about $232 million forex for importation but Otedola admitted getting about $372 million. This report cannot stand any thorough scrutiny. It should be thrown to the dogs.
Chukwuma Nwani, Enugu

Are we sure that other oil firms did not give Lawan ‘something’?
Francis Iluanka, Abakaliki

Members of the House of Representatives really embarrassed themselves by re-listing the name of Otedola’s firm in the document. That goes to show that they don’t even know what they are doing.
Dominic Abraham, Agbor

When policemen searched Lawan’s residence, they could only get $10,000. Now that it looks like that matter is going nowhere, Nigerians will soon be told that the $10,000 has disappeared. Na wah for this country.
Olusola Dada, Ibadan

Lawan has been suspended, so what? Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was right after all by saying that federal and state lawmakers are rogues and armed robbers. The House needs to purge itself as some of its leading members are becoming increasingly enmeshed in corruption.  The place is filled with ‘dishonourable’ members. It has become a cesspool of pervasive corruption.
Thomas Michael, Umuahia.

At what point did Otedola inform the police that Lawan had asked him for bribes? Was it before or after his second meeting with Lawan when he made his intention in approaching Otedola known to the oil baron? Why did the police wait until two months before it started to look for Lawan, a delay which Lawan could easily have taken advantage of in laundering the $620,000 paid to him? Why has the police probe not been extended to other members of the Ad-hoc  committee who may also have been directly involved, or benefitted from the bribes paid to Lawan and the secretary of the committee, Boniface Emenalo, by Otedola?

Did Otedola also benefit from the oil subsidy scam?
Ngozi Eze, Lagos

Trust Nigerians. The whole scandal is being politicised and viewed in tribal and ethnic terms, instead of considering the damage it has done to the economy and our  image abroad.
Thompson Ewero, Aba

This is the latest movie in town and the two leading actors are Otedollar and Farcrook.
Gbemi Olaifa, Lagos

Given the admission of Lawan and Otedola, it is true that $620,000 cash exchanged hands. The question nobody has asked is: from which bank in Nigeria did Otedola withdraw that huge sum of money from? If he didn’t withdraw it from any bank, that means he has a vault in his house.  If Otedola could just dole out $620,000 from his vault like that, that means he has millions of dollars in his vaults in Lagos and Abuja.

Given the fact that we have hundreds of Otedolas in the country with hundreds of millions of dollars in their vaults, no wonder the value of Naira has kept falling on weekly trading basis.
Ayo Kuteyi, Ile-Oluji