Anti-graft war: Stakeholders call for discipline, sanction in the judiciary   

The anti-corruption war should not be seen from the angle of creating jobs for the legal institution, but from the prosecuting angle. Hence the war cannot be won by President Muhammadu Buhari alone, according to some concerned legal practitioners.  OLUSESAN LAOYE and OKUNADE ADEKUNLE report

The anti-corruption crusade of President Muhammadu Buhari has now heightened with the policy of accountability which has been introduced in all government agencies. The anti-graft war has intensified with the probe of some key government officials who have been called to account for their stewardship. Also the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, has started the confiscation of fraudulently acquired properties from civil servants. However, stakeholders have advocated for discipline and sanction in the judiciary if the crusade must make meaning.

The areas which the government of President Buhari is currently dealing with are those involved with the revenue generation of the country. With these areas in focus, fear has now gripped those who are affected and they are now running to find out how they would defend themselves.

There are indications that legal practitioners are warming up and getting prepared to handle clients’ cases arising from allegation of corruption against government workers and past political appointees.

What would also keep the legal practitioners busy for the next one year is the new stand of the senate to complement the efforts of the Buhari’s administration by extending the probe beyond the Dr Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. This means that the senate is prepared to deem its search light on the 16 years rule of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the country from 1999 to 2015.

It is not only those in the federal government agencies and parastatals that would be facing prosecution over their dealings while in office, there are others from  various states which petitions against them have reached the EFCC and waiting for action. For instance some immediate past governors have been appearing at the EFCC while others are on the list of those who would still be summoned to explain some transactions they made.

Right now there are agitations that in addition to the fresh cases which the EFCC would be handling, the agency should revisit many cases of corruption before it since the time that the first chairman Mallam Nuhu Ribadu was in office, and which have been swept under the carpet. If the EFCC will however go by these agitations, then the courts would be inundated with anti-corruption cases and indication that lawyers would be busy and smiling home with fat accounts.

Before now, the anticipation of Nigerians and some legal practitioners was that the election petition would be the briefs that will occupy the lawyers, but it was not so as it used to be in previous elections when politicians rush to court to challenge the election of their opponents and by keeping the legal practitioners especially notable constitutional ones very busy.

Since  former President Jonathan  accepted defeat, on the grounds that he was not prepared to shed the blood of any Nigerian because of his personal ambition, others who equally lost their elections especially from  his political party, the PDP immediately took a queue from his action  which has now limited the number of litigations involving candidates in the last general elections at the tribunals.

This will give the judiciary the ample time to concentrate on criminal and civil cases already pending before it.

Those who are likely to face corruption charges are ex-governors, former ministers, and heads of government agencies because President Buhari has promised that he would not spare anyone found to be involved in corruption. This has been his sing song since he assumed office on May 29 this year. Although he promised that he would not jail anybody for corruption when he was campaigning, he did say now that the amount of corruption he discovered immediately he got to office was massive and alarming, adding that as a responsible person and leader he cannot fold its arm to allow what he discovered to go unattended to. He said that if the country must move forward, drastic measures had to be taken to put things in order so that all those who perpetrated evil to the country are brought to book.

This was why when he visited the United States the issue of corruption and security was top on the agenda of his discussions with President Barack Obama and other US government agencies, who promised that their country would help on his corruption policy. He even promised that the US government would help Nigeria trace stolen money in their country and such money would be repatriated to Nigeria.  The U.S intention to help Nigeria fight corruption was said to have given President Buhari the courage he is now showing in the fight against corruption. That was why he was emphatic when he met Nigerians in the US that with what he has so far discovered in office he was sure that some past ministers would go to jail.

Presently his anti-corruption crusade which the legal practitioners would be the greatest beneficiary is already generating controversies as Buhari is now being accused of pursuing selective prosecution. The opposition especially those who served under the government of former President Jonathan have been complaining that the present government of APC is only targeting them while it neglected others especially from his political party the APC.

Even recently the national peace committee headed by the former head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, warned that Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade should be made transparent enough so that it would not be perceived as being used to witch-hunt some people. The committee which had the Sultan of Sokoto, CAN president, and others like Rev Mathew Kuka as members also told Buhari that in as much as virtually all Nigerians believe that corruption must be wiped out and even former president Jonathan and members of his political party, it would want the present government to be humane about the process of tackling corruption.

Recently former President Jonathan whose government is the focus of the anti-corruption crusade of the present APC government visited Buhari where they had a closed door meeting in the night. Although details of their discussion was not made known, it was generally believed that the two national leaders must have discussed the issue of the former president’s administration concerning some of the discovery so far made.

In order to set the ball rolling on ways of tackling corruption, Buhari’s appointment of a prominent lawyer and professor of law, Professor Itse Sagy (SAN) as his special adviser has been described as a good step in the right direction. Nigerians believe that this would in no small way help the anti- corruption war of the present government.

On what would be the benefit of legal practitioners handling corruption cases of those who may be charged to court, a legal practitioner and former chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ikeja Branch, Bisi Ade-Ademuwagun said that ordinarily any one alleged to have committed an offence be it criminal or otherwise, even those who have civil matters would approach a counsel who would handle their matters.

To him it would not be out of place if someone who is alleged to have stolen money  run to his lawyer to prove his innocence because an accused is proven innocent until he is found guilty. Ademunwagun did not accept that it would  enhance the pockets of lawyers as the public is seeing it, because that is what they are trained to do and they cannot do it without a fee being attached since that is their own means of livelihood.

Wale Okunniyi, the spokesman of the Coalition for Democracy and Electoral Reforms (CODER), stated that as the anti-corruption war is going on in the country there should be discipline and sanction in the judiciary. He stated that there should be caution among the legal practitioners since they know full well that the President does not give room for corruption in the system anymore. He added that legal practitioners are expected to play their role in line with the global judiciary standard.

Okunniyi stressed that the anti-corruption war in the country would aid development if lawyers stand by the judicial principle.

Also, a legal practitioner and law lecturer in the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, Wahab Shittu, argued that the anti-corruption war should not be seen from the angle of creating jobs for the legal institution, but should be seen from the prosecuting angle, adding that the anti-corruption war in the country cannot only be won by President Buhar. He said that all Nigerians including the political elite have serious roles to play in reducing corruption in the country.