The
Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) alleged, yesterday,
that some indicted leaders were richer than Nigeria, through corrupt pratices
while in
office.
The Prof. Itse
Sagay-led PACAC also revealed why
anti-graft agencies were yet to file charges against some leaders
indicted for corruption.
Executive
Secretary of the committee, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye said this at a one -day
workshop and media parley in Lagos, to review the committee’s activities in one
year.
He maintained
that some leaders named in high profile corruption cases were richer than the
country and that lack of fund was a major challenge hindering the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from prosecuting them.
“Low budgetary
allocation is a definite slowdown to filing of cases. The Ministry of Justice
is not a revenue-generating ministry. Some of these indicted leaders are even
richer than the country, that’s why you will see an accused in court with four
to five Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) defending them. Do you know how much
it costs to hire a SAN? he asked rhetorically.
Analysing different strategies deployed by President
Muhammadu Buhari to fight corruption, Owasonoye said with a different framework for the monitoring and management of recovered
stolen assets in place, “it is not possible to re-loot the loot.
No government
has the capacity to prosecute all offences and that is the reason there is a
legal framework for plea bargain.
“The plea
bargain is not a trade off, but what has been set up with other guidelines to
refrain suspects from seeing it as an outlet for easy escape.
“The new
Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) is meant to resolve challenges in
the criminal justice system but, if it is failing, then, it is as a result of
implementation,” he said.
Owasanoye also
stressed the need to work with stakeholders on
improved legal framework,
enhance capacity building for ministries, departments and agencies and the
Judiciary, on money laundering and asset
recovery.
“We also intend
embarking on a revisit of some high profile corruption cases like the
Halliburton case, as well as others, and see them to a logical conclusion,” he
said
Owasanoye who
identified poor economy,
ineffective application of preventive
measures, negative use of constitutional safeguards, and the manipulation of
fault-line by suspects as other challenges the committee face in the last one
year, called for improved collaboration
between all arms of
government in the anti-graft war.
Other PACAC
members are Profs. Etannibi Alemika, Femi Odekunle, Sadiq Isah Radda and Hadiza
Bala Usman.
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