An opposition presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on Wednesday said he would consider granting amnesty to corrupt persons willing to surrender their loot.
Mr Abubakar said this while appearing with
his running mate, Peter Obi, at a live town hall programme hosted by ace
journalist, Kadaria Ahmed.
Mr Abubakar said he would consider
drawing a line during which corrupt former public officials would be
allowed to return their loot without prosecution. After then, strong
policies would be put in place to prevent and fight corruption.
Mr
Abubakar said it would be more prudent to allow looters return their
assets to Nigeria tax free and invest them in order to boost the
country’s economy.
Host Kadaria Ahmed suggested that Mr
Abubakar’s proposal could be morally problematic, especially since he
has faced corruption allegations since leaving office as Nigeria’s vice
president in 2007.
“If you are to go and be prosecuting these
people, you will still be prosecuting them and would not get the money,”
Mr Abubakar said. He suggested that a similar scheme under past
administration yielded over $4 billion.
“Whether it is moral
rectitude that you want to achieve or you want to see a fast development
of your country,” Mr Abubakar asked rhetorically.
The position
was backed by Mr Abubakar’s running mate, Mr Obi, who said it is better
than to allow looters keep their plunder just by joining another
political party.
Mr Obi’s statement appears a jibe at President
Muhammadu Buhari, who has been repeatedly accused of tolerating
corruption amongst his political associates while going after opposition
members.
Mr Obi said the Buhari administration has fought
elusive corrupt people at the detriment of the Nigerian economy, which
he said has been haemorrhaging jobs since the government was inaugurated
in 2015.
Mr Buhari has denied going after opposition members.
On
Wednesday evening, reports emerged that Babachir Lawal. a long time
associate of Mr Buhari’s who was fired in 2017 for alleged stealing of
funds meant for the internally displaced victims of Boko Haram, had been
arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Mr
Lawal’s delayed prosecution despite overwhelming evidence had been a
spectre on Mr Buhari’s anti-corruption drive for several months.
Source:- Premiumtimesng
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