Femi Falana
A Senior
Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Femi Falana; a former governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji
Balarabe Musa; and the
Others, who
have joined in the condemnation of the bill, are a Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Ebun
Olu-Adegboruwa; the Chairman, Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership,
Mr. Debo Adeniran; and the President, Campaign for Democracy, Usman Abdul.
The bill,
called the Economic Amnesty Bill, seeks to allow those who loot public treasury
to return about 70 per cent of the stolen funds in exchange for total amnesty
from prosecution.
The bill,
sponsored by Linus Okorie (Peoples Democratic Party, Ebonyi) was read for the
first time on the floor of the House on June 14.
Falana
described the bill as immoral, discriminatory and unconstitutional.
He said the
bill was at variance with the United Nations Convention Against Corruption
which has been ratified by the Nigerian government.
“I want to
assume that the sponsors of the bill are not aware that Nigeria has ratified
the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. The convention has imposed a
duty on the Nigerian Government to fight corruption and not to legalise it,”
Falana said.
He said the
bill, if passed into law, would encourage other forms of crime like kidnapping
and armed robbery.
The senior
advocate added that the bill was in contravention of sections 15, 42 and 45 of
the 1999 Constitution.
Falana
added, “The bill is immoral, dangerous, discriminatory, illegal and
unconstitutional. It is patently inconsistent with Section 15(5) of the
constitution which has imposed a duty on the Nigerian state to abolish corrupt
practices.
“It is
discriminatory as it is designed to shield looters of our commonwealth alone
from prosecution contrary to the letter and spirit of Section 42 of the
Constitution. It is dangerous as it is meant to legitimise official corruption
and impunity in the country.
“If the bill
is signed into law, all criminals who have been convicted and jailed for fraud,
stealing, kidnapping and armed robbery are automatically entitled to similar
amnesty and pardon.”
Agreeing
with Falana, Ubani, who is the Vice-President of the NBA, described the bill as
both appalling and immoral, stressing that it contradicts the Federal
Government’s anti-corruption stance.
Ubani
stated, “What message are we sending to prospective looters; that they can
steal, keep some and invest some in the country? It does not send a correct
signal; it sends a wrong signal.
“For such a
bill, Nigerians must be involved and we must know the intention of the bill
before we can even comment. But I think that merely from the title, it sounds
appalling rather than appealing. It is clearly immoral and it will not
encourage people who want to be upright in public office; rather, it will
encourage corruption and I don’t think it is something that should even be
contemplated.”
In a similar
vein, Balarabe believed the bill would only legitimise corruption.
The
ex-Kaduna State governor said in a telephone interview with the News Agency of
Nigeria that he was disappointed with the lawmakers for even discussing the
bill.
He added,
“Honestly, I am terribly disappointed that a bill like that is being discussed
at the National Assembly.
“The bill is
immoral and it shows the level of moral degeneration the country has attained
especially at the leadership level.
“The
proposal, to me, is a way of legitimising corruption, because you are telling
people to loot and declare maybe part of the loot, then you are set free.
“This is not
good for Nigeria, for development and for the fight against corruption.”
Also, CACOL
chairman, Mr. Debo Adeniran, said if the bill was allowed to become law, it
would encourage corruption with impunity.
Adeniran
said what the country needed at this time were laws that would strengthen the
anti-corruption war and ensure punishment for looters.
He said, “First
and foremost, such a bill must have been sponsored by looters. Before
now, there has been a kind of plea bargain arrangement such that looters will
face minimum sanction for their sins but not outright discharge from
prosecution.
“We are not
in support of such a bill that will make a sinner go free. It would amount to
cheating for those who decided not to commit crime, because they will be
feeling that why did they not commit the same crime if they were not going to
be punished?
“At the end,
it will still be victory for corruption and that is not good for the
development of the country. That bill should not scale through and we are
working tooth and nail to oppose it.”
Adeniran
believed the plan by the government to publish names of looters would go a long
way in discouraging corruption.
Adegboruwa,
on his part, described the bill as misconceived, illegal and an effort in
futility, pointing out that the National Assembly could not make a law that
would pardon looters in the face of already existing laws that criminalise
looting.
He stated,
“The bill is misconceived. The National Assembly, by Section 4 of the
Constitution, is meant to make laws for the order and good governance of the
country. The emphasis is on order and good governance. To that extent, the
National Assembly is not competent to pass laws that will pardon criminals.
“We already
have various laws in place, passed by the National Assembly, that criminalise
looting. We have the Criminal Code, the anti-money laundering Act, the EFCC
Act, the ICPC Act, which already criminalise looting.
“The
Criminal Code was passed by the National Assembly as far back as 1990; so, the
National Assembly cannot wake up in 2017 to make a law that will contradict
laws that it has already passed. So, it is an effort in futility.”
Adegboruwa
added that apart from being illegal, the bill was also “based on total
immorality and can never see the light of the day.”
The CD said
the amnesty for looters bill would bring impunity to corruption and worsen the
looting of the country’s treasury.
The CD
President, Abdul, said, “This bill is an opportunity to give a long rope to
thieves and looters of the treasury. We should not allow it. It will bring
impunity to corruption and disallow the law from taking its course.
“The bill should
be properly called amnesty for looters. We will not agree to such bill.”
But another
SAN, Mr. Yusuf Ali, said he would support any move to recover the nation’s
stolen funds.
He said, “Do
we want an eye for an eye or we want stolen money to be recovered? If it is an
eye for an eye, how many corrupt people have you been able to catch? How many
of them have you been able to recover stolen money from?
“I support
any means by which stolen money can be recovered and used for the development
of the people.”
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