Itse Sagay, chairman of the
Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), says the federal
government is yet to charge any former president to court over corruption
allegations in order to avoid “distractions”.
The administrations of
ex-Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan have been, at various
times, accused of corruption.
With no corruption charges filed
against the two leaders yet, some Nigerians say they appear to be “immune” to
prosecution – unlike the case of the jailed former South Korean leader.
But in an interview with TheCable
on Friday, Sagay said the social conditions and level of development in the
country has to be taken into consideration before any president is dragged to
court.
“If you charge a former president
to court now, that is when people are going to carry arms,” he said.
“That is when they say ‘our son
is being victimised’; all sorts of distractions will come in.”
He said charging a former
president to court is an issue that has to be considered “very delicately” so that
“you don’t add more crises to what we already have.”
“There is a level of discretion
government has to use, so you cannot get everything you want,” he added.
Sagay, who was speaking on the
sideline of the evaluation workshop organised in Abuja by PACAC to evaluate the
whistleblower policy, also flayed the individuals Lai Mohammed, minister of
information, accused of looting the economy, who are threatening to go to
court.
He said what the minister
released was a tip of the iceberg as he has up to a hundred names “in my own
list”.
Sagay said: “When you find assets
with a particular person which he cannot explain legitimately how he acquired
them, it is presumed by our law that such person is a looter. So, there are
many of such who have not even been mentioned.
“What the minister has done is
just a tip of the iceberg. I have up to 100 of them in my own list and there
are more. So, if they feel offended, let them go to court, they are all
actually looters.
“They will soon be charged to
court (when? “Progressively”). Unless some of them want to settle before they
are taken to court, some are doing that. And settlement means massive return of
looted assets.”
He also gave reasons why the
anti-corruption fight has been strife with few convictions.
“There are a lot of prosecutions
going on and the results will begin to show,’ he said, adding: “Previously, the
cases were deliberately frustrated by all sorts of frivolous applications being
made by senior advocates, and appealing every ruling given by the court.
“But that is not happening again
because of the administration of the criminal justice act. So we are going to
get results as time goes on.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
See who is talking! Prof please be honest and tell the whole world what your relationship with ex convict ibori is like. Stop moralising o.
ReplyDelete