A former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Farouk Lawan, who was previously convicted in a bribery case, has successfully scaled the screening process of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The screening followed Lawan’s endorsement by stakeholders from Bagwai and Shanono Local Government Areas, who adopted him as their sole candidate for the House of Representatives.
A source who attended the stakeholders’ meeting disclosed that party leaders, youth and women groups unanimously backed Lawan, citing what they described as his “strong representation” during his previous tenure at the National Assembly.
According to the source, the stakeholders recalled Lawan’s years in the legislature with nostalgia, noting that his performance informed their decision to support his return to the National Assembly in 2027.
The endorsement reportedly came shortly after a stakeholders’ engagement with Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf.
Those present at the meeting included the Chairman of Bagwai Local Government, Engr. Bello Gadanya; Chairman of Shanono Local Government, Alhaji Abubakar Barau Shanono; and several party elders.
Other attendees were Alhaji Sani Gadanya, a former commissioner under the administration of Abubakar Rimi; Salisu Garba Bagwai, former Chairman of Bagwai Local Government; Comrade Ahmed Kadamu, former Chairman of Shanono Local Government; and Alhaji Inuwa Zangina Dangada, former Chairman of Bagwai Local Government.
The stakeholders declared Lawan their unanimous choice for the 2027 House of Representatives election.
Similarly, representatives of youth and women groups, alongside party leaders including Alhaji Mustapha Shatan Shanono, former state commissioner Alhaji Ali Ado, and APC chieftain Alhaji Haruna Abbas, also endorsed Lawan’s candidacy on behalf of their constituencies.
Elected and supervisory councillors from the two local governments equally backed Lawan’s bid, describing his return to the National Assembly as beneficial to their communities.
At the same meeting, stakeholders endorsed Hon. Ali Kiyawa as the party’s candidate for the State House of Assembly seat.
Meanwhile, Kano Times recalls that Lawan was released from prison in October 2024 after completing a five-year jail term following his conviction in a bribery case.
Lawan, who previously represented the Bagwai/Shanono Federal Constituency, was involved in a widely publicised 2012 bribery scandal in which he was accused of demanding $3 million from businessman Femi Otedola to remove Zenon Petroleum from a list of firms allegedly implicated in petrol subsidy fraud.
Video footage showing Lawan handling large sums of cash sparked nationwide controversy, leading to his prosecution by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
An FCT High Court convicted him on three counts on June 22, 2021, sentencing him to seven years’ imprisonment.
However, an appellate court in February 2022 acquitted him on two counts while upholding one conviction and reducing the sentence to five years. The Supreme Court of Nigeria affirmed the judgment in January 2024, after which Lawan completed his sentence and regained his freedom in October 2024.
