Nigeria aiding corruption with state pardon – El-Rufai

A former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has expressed dissatisfaction with the practice of granting state pardon to convicted public office holders.

El-Rufai said he believed that granting state pardons to convicted public office holders was aiding corruption, urging that it should be controlled.

Among those that have been granted state pardon in Nigeria are: a former Bayelsa State Governor, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha; a former Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, the late Maj. Gen. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua; a former Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen. Oladipo Diya; a former Minister of Communications, Maj. Gen. Tajudeen Olanrewaju; and a former Minister of Works, the late Maj. Gen. Abdulkareem Adisa.

Others pardoned are a former managing director of the defunct Bank of the North, Alhaji Shettima Bulama, and Dr. Chiichii Ashwe.

El-Rufai spoke on ‘Corruption, and the challenge of good governance’ at a lecture organised by an association of Muslim businessmen, The Companion, in Lagos State.

He noted that corruption would be reduced in the country through provision of welfare packages for public officers, using members of the police force as a case study.

He said, “Giving state pardon to convicted political office-holders has a way of discouraging Nigerians not to be corrupt. What kind of message do we want to be passing to our youths when we pardon corrupt public office holders who are convicted.

“Pardoning convicted corrupt persons in Nigeria is sending a wrong message to the young ones. Corruption affects good governance and it must be checked. It is the effect of coruption that we can now feel in basic societal necessities, such as electricity, infrastructure, water, and security, among others.”

The former Minister blamed the security challenges in Nigeria to failure of intelligence agencies, which he said, were also affected by corruption.

The President of the organising group, Mr. Misbaodeen Oyefesor, appealed to government at all levels to collectively fight corruption and insurgents attacks disturbing the growth of the country.

He said the theme of the lecture was directed at providing solution to the increasing rate of corruption in the country.

Oyefeso said, “There is the need to check the spread of corruption. We only hear that efforts are been made, it seems nothing was happening to check the trend.”

The Chairman of the occasion, Otunba Lateef Owoyemi, recommended that introducing ‘corruption studies’ would help to check the trend of the challenge.