Politics
Can Death Penalty Reduce Corruption ? (II)
In the case of China, as of 2005, more than 4,000 officials fled the country, taking with them nearly US$50 billion. Since China does not have extradition agreements with most of the countries harbouring the fugitives, they cannot be always brought back to face Chinese justice. Also, many of these countries do not hand down the death penalty for corruption. So extraditing the fugitives would be tantamount to sending them to death row.
China’s legal experts have even suggested abolishing the death penalty for corruption.
It’s true that about half the world have abolished capital punishment altogether and the other half that still have their hands are only for heinous crimes like murder. So we can see that having the death penalty in place for corruption will strain our relationship with countries where these criminals normally carry their loot.
However, I will admit that I have never heard of any Nigerian corrupt official being extradited from the UK, the US or any other country in the last 50 years, despite the agreements we have with such countries. The problem is that no Nigerian Government has ever asked for this important bi-lateral cooperation to be applied. And the simple reason is that no Nigerian administration, military or democratic, has ever been sincere about fighting corruption. In fact, the Administration itself, in most cases, is corrupt. And it is in their interest not to seek the extradition of such criminals.
Corruption, rampant and prevalent as it is, poses a serious threat to Nigeria’s political stability and sustainable development. Hence, it warrants utmost care and sincerity in its handling, especially at a time when the government is seeking to be in good relationship with the larger world, and also with its “re-branding” efforts to position Nigeria right.
Besides, I doubt if this current Government and the ruling party, PDP, as we currently have both, are not even in the position or have the vision, capability, political and moral will to even advocate and implement a death sentence for corruption.
This is because both the government and the governed have not been sincere and truthful about fighting corruption. The political will has never been there; even as we gave credit to Obasanjo for taking the first ever step to fight corruption by creating the tools: EFCC and the ICPC. The absence of this political will therefore negates the call for the death penalty to fight our endemic corruption problem.
There are other social, moral and economic issues which must be addressed first before we can talk of prescribing death sentence for corrupt practices. The government and the ruling party must be seen to be more sincere in fighting corruption by continuously and vigorously exposing and prosecuting criminals, and not shielding them. The judiciary must be cleaned up; the Nigeria Bar Association must deal with its errant members who are stifling the corruption fight in courts, while the government must also pro-actively tackle poverty, unemployment and illiteracy.
Also, government office or public service must not be seen as a quick route to making money. Hence, the salaries and other remunerations of political office holders must be pruned in such a way that only those who really want to serve will be the ones going for these positions.
Get me right. There are some corrupt public officials and politicians who should be lined up by the wall and shot. I say this because if we carefully consider the effect of their corrupt practices on our lives, wellbeing and survival, these people have also committed genocide, directly or indirectly against millions of Nigerians.
However, methinks the whole idea of death penalty for corruption is fraught with danger, the danger being the application of this very severe penalty and the systemic, intrinsic corrupt society we have itself such as the lawmakers who are going to make the law; the enforcement agencies who will investigate the crime, the judiciary who will try the corrupt criminal and the lawyers who will defend or prosecute the case etc.
There must be a bribe giver to have a bribe taker. Also, it stands to reason that you cannot be a part of the problem and at the same time be part of the solution.
Adejumo is the global co-ordinator of Champions for Nigeria.
Akintokunbo A. Adejumo
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed, through a second reading, a bill seeking to retain immunity for the Office of the President and remove immunity from the Vice President, the Governors and the Deputy Governors.
The bill was one of the 42 considered and passed through the second reading stage during plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Benjamin Kalu, in Abuja.
Sponsored by Hon. Solomon Bob (Rivers PDP), the bill is seeking the amendment of Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution to guard against abuse of office and to ensure transparency in governance.
The long title of the proposed legislation read: “A Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to qualify the immunity conferred on the President, remove the immunity conferred on the Vice President, the Governors and their deputies, in order to curb corruption, eradicate impunity and enhance accountability in public office and for related matters.”
Key amendments include changes to Section 308 of the Constitution, which currently grants immunity to the president, vice president, governors, and deputy governors while in office.
The proposed bill will amend subsection 3 to ensure that immunity only applies to the President and the vice president when acting as President under Section 145 of the Constitution.
Additionally, a new subsection 4 will be introduced to make the immunity clause inapplicable if the office holder is acting in an unofficial capacity, engaging in actions beyond the powers of the office, or involved in criminal conduct.
“The bill seeks to foster transparency and strengthen the fight against corruption by making public officials more accountable for their actions, both in and out of office.”
“Section 308 of the principal Act is amended by:(a) substituting a new subsection (3) as follows: “(3) This section applies to a person holding the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Vice President only when acting as President, in line with Section 145 of this Constitution.
Creating sub section (4) thereto as follows:”(4) The foregoing provisions of this section shall be inapplicable where the person to whom this section applies is acting in an unofficial capacity or where the conduct of the person is beyond the powers of his office or the conduct is criminal in nature.
“This Bill may be cited as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) Act 2024.
The bill is currently awaiting further debate and consideration by the National Assembly.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has written to notify Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central, about the petition by constituents seeking her recall from the national assembly.
INEC said it has also received the contact details of the petitioners.
“Pursuant to section 69 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, I write to notify you of the receipt of a petition from representatives of registered voters in your constituency seeking your recall from the senate.
“The notification is in line with the provisions of clause 2 (a) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024.
“This letter is also copied to the presiding officer of the senate and simultaneously published on the commission’s website. Thank you”, the letter read.
The letter was signed by Ruth Oriaran Anthony, secretary to the commission.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Wednesday, INEC said it has now received the updated contact details from representatives of petitioners seeking to recall the senator.
In the statement, Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education, said a letter notifying the senator of the petition has been delivered to her official address, copied to the senate presiding officer, and published on the commission’s website.
“The next step is to scrutinise the list of signatories submitted by the petitioners to ascertain that the petition is signed by more than one half (over 50%) of the registered voters in the constituency. This will be done in the coming days.
“The outcome, which will be made public, shall determine the next step to be taken by the Commission. We once again reassure Nigerians that the process will be open and transparent”, Mr Olumekun said.
Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan had recently accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexually harassing her.
The allegation came in the wake of seating arrangement related altercation between Senator. Akpabio and the Kogi Central senator at the red chamber
She was subsequently suspended from the senate for six months for “gross misconduct” over the incident.
The constituents behind the recall move also accused her of “gross misconduct, abuse of office, and deceitful behaviour”.
The senator has denied wrongdoing and called the recall effort a “coordinated suppression” of her voice.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the second reading of a bill to upgrade the Lagos State 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to full-fledged Local Government Areas (LGAs ).
The bill, was sponsored by James Faleke, Babajimi Benson, Enitan Badru, and 19 other lawmakers.
The bill is titled “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) to Accommodate the Thirty-Seven (37) Development Area Councils of Lagos State as Full-Fledged Local Government Areas, Increasing the Total Number of Local Government Areas in the Federation to Eight Hundred and Eleven (811), and for Related Matters (HB. 1498),”
Once fully enacted, Nigeria’s total number of LGAs will rise from 774 to 811, with Lagos overtaking Kano and Katsina, which currently have 44 and 34 LGAs, respectively.
Proponents of the bill argue that granting full LGA status to the LCDAs would bring governance closer to the people. The 37 LCDAs were created by President Bola Tinubu in 2003 when he was governor of Lagos State.
However, it’s worth noting that the Lagos State House of Assembly has been working on a bill to replace the 37 LCDAs with newly designated administrative areas.