21st November, 2019
The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has commended the Muhammadu Buhari’s government’s support for the quick establishment of specialized courts to try corruption and its allied cases for speedy determination of such cases within a stipulated time in order to bring culprits to book and discourage penchant for embezzlement and other forms of grand corruption.
In a release issued by the anti-corruption boss, Mr. Debo Adeniran through the organization’s Coordinator of Media and Publications, Adegboyega Otunuga, he noted, “The President of the Nigerian federation, Muhammadu Buhari, while delivering his keynote address at the National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in Public sector, that was organized by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in conjunction with the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in Abuja yesterday, called on the legislative and judicial arms of government to embrace and support the creation of Special Crimes court on corruption in line with the general demand of majority Nigerians in that respect.
“This is because, like the president rightly noted, corruption has been the singular cause of most of our economic woes and social miasma as a nation. It is responsible for our weak and deteriorating educational system, poor health facilities and services, pervading state of insecurity and veritable catalyst for overwhelming poverty.”
Therefore, Adeniran considers it imperative that for Nigeria as a nation to overcome corruption, there is a need for necessary machineries to be set in motion by the relevant arms of government.
That, he said, would make corruption cases to be given special and accelerated attention.
“It is worthy of note that available records and statistics have pointed out that over USD200bn (Two Hundred Billion Dollars) have been siphoned or laundered via economic crimes in Nigeria between our independence as a nation in 1960 and 2018.
“You could then imagine what social services and infrastructure could have been provided were such colossal sums not pilfered by those entrusted with public services. In similar vein, the President emphasized on how most of the over One Trillion Naira (N1TN) ambushed by members of the National Assembly for constituency projects since the advent of this civil rule in 1999 has been misappropriated with little or nothing to show for it. The story is no different in almost all sectors of the economy by public office holders who have come to see public service as an opportunity for personal gratification and unfettered purloining of the public treasury.
“This is why we are commending the two anti-graft agencies in the country, the ICPC and the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) for keeping faith with the current government’s resolve in sanitizing the public sector and discouraging impunity that characterized it. We have no doubt that, if properly sustained and intensified, a new dawn of a glorious Nigeria may not be too far off.” The anti-corruption crusader reasoned.
“It is also instructive to note that, Lagos state has been the only state in the whole federation to have set up such special courts for corruption and child rights’ abuse issues with the resultant results already visible. This is why CACOL, as an anti-corruption organization clearly backs such clamour and requests for competent and judicious composition and enabling laws to make its creation unimpeachable and acceptable to all intents and purposes.” He added.