Former President of the Court of Appeal and pioneer Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related offences Commission, ICPC, Justice Mustapha Akanbi (retd) yesterday in Ilorin gave the President Goodluck Jonathan administration a hard knock over the manner it has handled the issue of corruption, saying the escalation of graft in all spheres of the nation’s economy is disturbing.

Similarly, a legal luminary based in Ilorin, Mallam Yusuf Olaolu Ali (SAN), criticised the present administration for its stance on corruption, saying: “The President believes that there is no corruption in Nigeria but petty stealing.”

They spoke on a day Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State accused President Jonathan of not releasing the audit report of the missing $20 billion crude oil fund because the report allegedly indicted some of his loyalists.

In his address at a public lecture on corruption, with the theme: “The bane of our society” organised by Amicus International Club of Ilorin, Justice Akanbi said people now accept bribes with impunity because nothing is being done about corruption.

Corruption is escalating

His words: “The clouds have thickened, corruption is escalating and we cannot pretend. The Transparency International put us at the position of 136th corrupt nation. You cannot deny it even though it is a perception. Honestly, I do not see what is being done about corruption now.

“Speaking for myself, I ask this question: Does it mean all the governors are corruption-free, does it mean all the legislators are corruption-free; does it mean the judiciary is corruption-free? We know that it is happening but people are not being arrested, no action is being taken and the end result is that people accept bribes with impunity now.

“At least, if they had taken few people to court, we would have known that something is being done. There is a general lull and the fight against corruption has gone down completely. That is why we are gearing up the tempo now so that people can be aware of it.

No gov arrested

”Now, when you look at many people wanting to be governors, is it because they want to serve their people or that they want to go and chop and chop? It is apparent that many of them want to enrich themselves because they know that when you go there you make money and become wealthy, which is the same as going to the legislature. Yet people are suffering, there is no development, there is corruption, kidnapping and the ills of the society have gone on the ascendancy.

“Honestly, look at these governors, how many of them have been arrested? We know about Oduahgate and the billions of naira that Sanusi alleged that was missing. The terrible thing is that the judiciary is not helping. Someone said he was alleged to have taken about N30 billion and he said it was N20 billion but was fined about N750 million by the judiciary.”

President believes there’s no corruption in Nigeria

In his contribution, Mallam Ali noted that as Nigerians “we know that corruption makes all of us poorer in the short and long run. Even for those who are stealing our money, they are poorer; what is the essence of money you have stolen and you cannot display whatever you have acquired with it? You build houses outside of Nigeria; you are not proud to tell people you have built such houses and you buy big cars and keep them as if they are items of antiquity.

He said: “The saddest aspect is that when you take this money out of Nigeria, you are mal-nourishing our economy and nourishing the economies of the countries that are already nourished. It is a no-win situation for those who are corrupt, those who condone it and the rest of us.”
On the current anti corruption crusade of President Jonathan, he said: ”I have said this before, there is no drive against corruption by the current government and that is quite obvious because the President believes that there is no corruption in Nigeria. He believes that what is going on is petty stealing. So if he doesn’t believe there is corruption, you can’t hold him for not driving any anti corruption war. If somebody doesn’t believe there is a problem then he would not be obliged to look for solution.”

Don’t sell your votes

On the forthcoming 2015 general elections, Ali said:”People should know that elections come and go but Nigeria remains. Those of us who are parents should tell our children not to allow themselves to be used as cannon fodders by people who are looking for power. Let us remind our children that the children of politicians will not take part in thuggery at rallies and campaigns. Their own children are safely tucked away in Europe, America and other places, totally out of harm.

“I also tell those of us who are electorate not to sell our votes; when you sell your votes you lose the moral rights to ask how you are governed. Once you sell your vote you cannot ask the people who are elected how they discharge their mandate.”