Emmanuel Thomas I November 2, 2016
Abuja, Nigeria – A civil right group, Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to decline accent to the amended Code of Conduct Act.
Executive Director of the group, Comrade Dr. Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi gave the advice at a press conference in Abuja.
He described the amendment as treasonable and unacceptable to the Nigerian people, adding that it will surely be resisted. “It is a clear case of corruption fighting back with all vehemence”, he said.
He said Nigerians are aware of acts of subterfuge that orchestrated absence by lawmakers from the majority party, which was used to create an alibi to concoct the dubious passage of the offensive amendments to the CCT Act.
“One does not need to look far to see the motivations behind these machinations to weaken key institutions in the fight against graft. It is a case of participants in the endless looting of Nigeria fearing the consequences of their actions, and taking the route of weakening institutions to secure for themselves and their tainted leaders like Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara soft landing”, he said.
CHRICED called on the Federal Government to show more grit and determination in the push to bring corrupt elements in the National Assembly to book.
“As things stand, the arrowheads of corruption in the legislature are having a field day. At the expense of Nigerians, they have padded budgets and nothing has happened. At a time of scarcity of financial resources, these so called honourable and distinguished members have not been honourable and distinguished enough to cut their jumbo allowances, both known and unknown; legal and illegal.
“They have not been productive enough to pass legislation to grant autonomy to the local governments, which are currently under the stranglehold of the state governments. Rather they keep guzzling a substantial chunk of the nation’s resources, while majority of citizens wallow in unemployment and abject poverty. This cruel form of greed and elite driven corruption must be immediately tackled.
“Even if output is to be assessed, what would the National Assembly say it has contributed to good governance to warrant the huge chunk of resources it drains from the public purse? In fact, if the judiciary required a surgical blade to push the debate towards dealing with corruption, the National Assembly needs a transplant to replace organs that have long rotted beyond any usefulness to the Nigerian people”, he said.
CHRICED again calls on the Nigerian people not to remain silent in the face of these institutionalised stealing from the people. He said citizen action is urgently required to stop the current unchecked impunity and abuse going on in the National Assembly.
CHRICED, he said stands firm with the Federal Government in the ongoing onslaught against the rot in the nation’s judiciary, as well as in other arms of government.
“It is remarkable that the fight against corruption is now bringing into its dragnet highly placed officers of the state, who were hitherto untouchable. For us, the willingness to take the fight against corruption and graft to the door step of those wielding the judicial powers of the state, is both courageous and commendable. It is akin to asking the physician to heal himself.
“At least from the revelations that have come so far, Nigerians have been given a sneak preview of the extent of the decay in key institutions of the state, and have seen how the course of justice has been serially mortgaged over time in this country.
