TUC PROPOSES DEATH SENTENCE, PUBLIC OFFICE BAN FOR LOOTERS

Emmanuel Ukudolo

Abuja, Nigeria, February 12, 2016 – The Trade Union Congress(TUC) has proposed various jail terms, ranging from 5 years to death penalty for those found guilty of looting the nation’s resources, including ban from further occupation of public office.

President TUC, Comrade Bobboi Kaigama made the observation at an interactive meeting with members of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption in Abuja.

He said that TUC remains in full support of the ongoing fight against corruption and prescribes the following to the committee as remedy to corruption in Nigeria.

“For culprits of fraud/embezzlement involving sums of between N1 to N10 million, imprisonment for 5 years; For culprits of fraud/embezzlement involving sums from above N10 million to N50 million, imprisonment for 10 years; For culprits of fraud/embezzlement involving sums from above N50 million to N100 million, imprisonment for 15 years; For culprits of fraud/embezzlement involving sums from above N100 million to N200 million, imprisonment for 20 years; For culprits of fraud/embezzlement involving sums from above N200 million to N500 million, imprisonment for 25 years; For culprits of fraud/embezzlement involving sums from above N500 million to N1 billion, imprisonment for life; For culprits of fraud/embezzlement involving sums larger than N1 billion, death penalty.

“Furthermore, plea bargaining should not be entertained except where the culprit repays the full principal sum of money involved plus 10 percent compound interest per annum with effect from the date he or she committed the fraud; Any person found guilty of fraud or any other financial crime should be constitutionally banned for life from occupying any public office; Lastly, the academic curricular should include sound religious teachings as well as studies in civics and morality. Building a corruption-free nation requires paying attention to all strata of society, starting from the cradle”, he told the committee.

He also recommended making the judiciary truly independent.

“To effect this, the judiciary should be placed in the first-line charge for budgetary allocations, just like the executive and the legislature. Furthermore, just as appointment and promotion of judicial officers by the executive is on recommendation/approval of the National Judicial Council and/or the legislature, so also should the executive have no power to sack any judicial officer without the recommendation/approval of the Council and/or the legislature.

“ Similar policy should apply in the case of the Inspector General of Police, the Governor of the Central Bank, the chairmen of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the EFCC, the ICPC, as well as other public officers whose official independence need to be protected by law if they are to perform their duties conscientiously without fear or favour”, he said.

He called for establishment of Special Anti-Corruption Courts to hear only corruption cases. This would ensure that the time-span for prosecuting culprits is shortened and actual convictions more assured.

The TUC president called for more powers for the EFCC and the ICPC. “For instance, they should be statutorily empowered to arrest and prosecute culprits without any recourse to any other authority.

“A comprehensive review of the anti-corruption laws and the body of laws relating to finance and the economy to make them meet the challenges of present-day Nigeria is highly recommended. Also, the international laws against corruption should be domesticated”, he said.

He also advocated making political office less financially lucrative. “For example, the present scenario where a senator in Nigeria which happens to be a country with one of the lowest pa capita incomes in the world earns more than the Presidents of the United States and other advanced nations is grossly anomalous, unhealthy, indefensible and unacceptable.

“It would also serve the nation well to have a law which not only provides for every public office holder to declare his assets on assuming office, but also stipulates that he must repeat the exercise each subsequent year that he is in office and not later than one month after vacating the office. All such declarations should be in 3 national daily newspapers and not just to the Code of Conduct Bureau”, he said.

He called for a holistic fight on anti-corruption crusade, netting across all tiers of governance – whether local, state and federal – down to the civil service and the Millennium Development Agencies (MDAs) where it is alleged and believed that corruption is rife.

“Government at all levels must formulate and implement policies that would boost the economy by serving as catalyst for mass creation of decent well-paid jobs in both the public and private sectors. The necessary enabling environment must be created, i.e. provision of constant electricity, good roads, pipe-borne water, soft-loans, production-inducing tax regime, and excellent education, etc. The government’s economic team must ensure that working people do not lose their jobs.

“All tiers of government need to demonstrate the requisite political will and provide assistance through legislation and funding of the police and anti-corruption agencies.

“Re-organisation and strengthening of a the Nigeria Police Force, the EFCC, the ICPC and other agencies responsible for fighting corruption, for greater professional performance and efficacy. Regular training and re-training for agency officers at home and abroad. Intense public enlightenment and sensitisation at all levels of society, especially in our schools, offices, market places, etc. on the woes of corruption and the need to avoid it”, he said.
He also called for imposition of property tax to discourage excessive accumulation and acquisition of wealth.

“Government should invest in education and provide alternative economic opportunities for children and the youths in order to greatly reduce the desperation that sometimes leads to corruption and other vices”, he told the committee.