Former member of the House of Representatives Farouk Lawan is seeking a return to the National Assembly ahead of the 2027 general elections after serving a prison term for bribery and receiving a presidential pardon from Bola Tinubu.
Mr Lawan, who represented Bagwai/Shanono Federal Constituency in Kano State, has passed the screening process of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and emerged as the preferred candidate of party stakeholders in Bagwai and Shanono Local Government Areas.
His return to politics follows a legal battle linked to the 2012 fuel subsidy bribery scandal.
Lawan chaired the House of Representatives ad hoc committee that investigated the fuel subsidy regime at the time.
He was accused of demanding a $3 million bribe from billionaire businessman Femi Otedola to remove Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited from the list of companies indicted by the committee over alleged fuel subsidy fraud.
The former lawmaker was later convicted in the bribery case and served a prison sentence. He completed his five-year jail term in 2024 and was granted a presidential pardon and clemency in October 2025.
Following the pardon, Lawan regained his civil and political rights.
In an interview with the BBC Hausa Service after the pardon, Farouk Lawan thanked President Tinubu and said the experience taught him lessons about life and destiny.
“When someone goes through a trial and Allah grants a chance for pardon, you must be thankful. My family and well-wishers across the world were all filled with joy when the news broke,” he said.
He also said, “It was indeed a day of thanksgiving to Allah, for He made it possible, and to President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for doing what is right.”
