Farouk Lawan

In 2012, Farouk Lawan, a member of the House of Representatives from Kano State, chaired a high-profile parliamentary committee investigating Nigeria's fuel subsidy program. The probe uncovered massive fraud worth billions of naira, with oil marketers allegedly inflating subsidy claims and government officials facilitating the scheme. However, Lawan himself was later accused of demanding and receiving $620,000 in bribes from Femi Otedola, an oil businessman, allegedly to remove Otedola's companies from the list of firms indicted in the subsidy fraud report.

The fuel subsidy program was designed to keep petrol prices affordable for Nigerians by having the government pay marketers the difference between international oil prices and domestic pump prices. By 2012, subsidy payments had ballooned to over ₦2 trillion annually, raising concerns about sustainability and corruption. President Goodluck Jonathan's attempt to remove the subsidy in January 2012 sparked nationwide protests, leading to a partial reversal and the establishment of Lawan's committee to investigate the program's administration.