A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Femi Falana; a former governor
of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa; and the Vice-President of
the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Monday Ubani, are among Nigerians
that have condemned a bill in the House of Representatives seeking
amnesty for treasury looters.
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.”
PUNCH
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Femi Falana; a former governor
of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa; and the Vice-President of
the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Monday Ubani, are among Nigerians
that have condemned a bill in the House of Representatives seeking
amnesty for treasury looters.
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.”
PUNCH
Read more https://www.nairalaw.com/falana-balarabe-cacol-others-condemn-amnesty-bill-for-looters/