I criticised the President for choosing not to publish his Asset Declaration and for granting D. S. P. Alamieseigha a state pardon. I disagreed with his decision in those two instances. I was on Radio Continental's live programme, Kubanje Direct, sometime last year and spoke about these issues publicly. I also wrote about them on Facebook and here in my blog.
However, I recognise that the war against corruption in Nigeria cannot be fought by just the Presidency. Recently, the judiciary set free Nasir El Rufai and Dimeji Bankole who had been on trial for corruption despite the prima facie cases established by the EFCC against them. Our laws place a huge burden on prosecutors of corruption cases to produce evidence beyond doubt which give accused persons too much latitude to wriggle out especially if they have very good lawyers. Moreover, even in the rare cases where conviction is achieved, the sentence prescribed by the laws for corruption cases are too lenient. We still have corrupt judges who give questionable judgments. Imagine that Peter Odili has a Court-ordained perpetual licence to enjoy his loot without the possibility of ever being prosecuted!
So we need all arms of government (the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary) to step up their game if we are to win the war against corruption. Our laws need amendment and corrupt judges must be flushed out.
In addition, we must scrutinise the activities of State Governments and Local Governments as much as we do the Federal Government. We all know that some of the ex-Governors now parading around as "progressives" really belong in jail.
The erroneous belief in some quarters that the President is not fighting corruption or that he is tolerant of corruption is fed by the notion that allegations of corruption against certain public officers is tantamount to proof that they are indees corrupt. For example, some have called for the sack of Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke as the Minister of Petroleum yet cannot produce any evidence of wrong-doing. You cannot sack people or prosecute them based on mere suspicion or orchestrated claims in social media. We must respect due process and the rule of law. Media lynching is not justice. There was a case established against Ms. Stella Oduah and she has been duly relieved of her position. Now I expect the EFCC to do its work by thoroughly investigating her case and prosecuting her accordingly.
God bless Nigeria!
Nigeria di fure!!
However, I recognise that the war against corruption in Nigeria cannot be fought by just the Presidency. Recently, the judiciary set free Nasir El Rufai and Dimeji Bankole who had been on trial for corruption despite the prima facie cases established by the EFCC against them. Our laws place a huge burden on prosecutors of corruption cases to produce evidence beyond doubt which give accused persons too much latitude to wriggle out especially if they have very good lawyers. Moreover, even in the rare cases where conviction is achieved, the sentence prescribed by the laws for corruption cases are too lenient. We still have corrupt judges who give questionable judgments. Imagine that Peter Odili has a Court-ordained perpetual licence to enjoy his loot without the possibility of ever being prosecuted!
So we need all arms of government (the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary) to step up their game if we are to win the war against corruption. Our laws need amendment and corrupt judges must be flushed out.
In addition, we must scrutinise the activities of State Governments and Local Governments as much as we do the Federal Government. We all know that some of the ex-Governors now parading around as "progressives" really belong in jail.
The erroneous belief in some quarters that the President is not fighting corruption or that he is tolerant of corruption is fed by the notion that allegations of corruption against certain public officers is tantamount to proof that they are indees corrupt. For example, some have called for the sack of Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke as the Minister of Petroleum yet cannot produce any evidence of wrong-doing. You cannot sack people or prosecute them based on mere suspicion or orchestrated claims in social media. We must respect due process and the rule of law. Media lynching is not justice. There was a case established against Ms. Stella Oduah and she has been duly relieved of her position. Now I expect the EFCC to do its work by thoroughly investigating her case and prosecuting her accordingly.
God bless Nigeria!
Nigeria di fure!!
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