25th September, 2015
The Chairman of Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN) has frowned against the granting of perpetual injunction against criminal prosecution by some judges.
The Constitutional lawyer who spoke during a TV programme monitored in Lagos, western Nigeria, on Friday, said it was wrong for judges to grant such frivolous injunction and warned that such judges would be recommended to the National Judicial Council, NJC, to be sanctioned.
He said such injunction put obstacles in the way of arrest and prosecution of persons, and enables suspected criminals to evade justice, adding that this had to stop as all such cases in the past would be reviewed because in this current dispensation, he said, “there would be no sacred cows.”
Sagay said his committee is merely advisory and had no mandate to arrest and prosecute suspected corrupt elements in the country.
He added that one of its jobs is to recommend to the President what to do to shore up the capacities of ant-corruption agencies to be better equipped to fight the war against corruption.
One of the areas to be addressed, he said, is to improve the knowledge of the prosecutors and for them to thoroughly investigate individuals before arresting them rather than the other way round which had often resulted in an exercise in futility as the anti-graft agencies often lose their cases due to insufficient evidence.
Sagay berated those alleging witch hunt in the anti-corruption fight, saying “if you are not a witch, why should you be afraid of witch hunt? Those who have not committed any offence should not be afraid. A lot of the people shouting witch hunt or saying there is selective war against corruption have something to hide.”
He added: “President Muhammadu Buhari has zero tolerance for corruption and whoever is to work with him must conform. We are creating a culture of no tolerance for corruption. We are breeding a new crop of people to be infused into ant-graft agencies. They will be graduates that will be trained to have a passion for exposing corruption and make sure it is punished. The whistle blowing bill will also be looked into for necessary amendment so that no one is victimised.”