A former governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji
Balarabe Musa, says the Bill before the House of Representatives seeking
amnesty for treasury looters would only legitimise
corruption.
Musa said that he was disappointed with the
lawmakers for even discussing the bill.
“ 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 may be part of
the loot, then you are set free.
“This is not good for Nigeria, for development
and for the fight against corruption, ” he said.
The bill, sponsored by Linus Okorie (PDP
Ebonyi) was read for the first time on the floor of the House on June 14.
It seeks to allow those who looted public
treasury to return certain percentage of the money in exchange for total
amnesty from prosecution.
Musa who questioned the morality of the
lawmakers for even discussing the bill urged them to drop it, saying it hurt
the collective interest of Nigerians.
Also speaking on the issue, Chairman, Center
for Anti -Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL ), 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.
“This bill is uncalled for because the only
thing it will achieve is to encourage people to steal and return part of the
money for amnesty.
“At the end, it will still be victory for
corruption and that is not good for the development of the country, ” he said.
Adeniran also spoke on the decision of the
government to publish names of looters, saying the move would go a long way in
discouraging corruption.
He, however, urged the government to ensure
judicious use of recovered looted funds so as to impact on the lives of the
masses.
“ Yes, the decision of the Federal Government
to publish names of looters following a court order is a welcome development.
“We cannot say we are fighting corruption when
people steal money at the expense of the generality of Nigerians and they
cannot be identified, so the development is good for the anti - corruption war.
“However, the government must also ensure
recovered monies are channelled into development projects.
“It is not justifiable to have bad roads,
unemployment and all of that when recovered monies are lying somewhere.
“So government should not only publish the
names but expend the recovered monies on development projects, ” he said.
(NAN )
0 Comments