President Muhammadu Buhari has been accused of making life easy for corrupt government officials in the last administration, by recovering looted funds from them without prosecuting them.
Reacting to the President’s statement during his recent visit to Iran, elder statesman, Tunji Braithwaite, said it wasn’t enough to just recover the monies looted from the nation’s coffers.
He said the return of stolen loot without being punished for stealing, is bigger than the initial crime of looting.
Speaking to Vanguard, Braithwaite said the anti-corruption war of President Buhari was expected to be merciless and thorough, as promised by Buhari during the last electioneering period.
The Human Rights lawyer said it is possible to achieve the return of embezzled public funds and still make the embezzlers pay for the crime.
He said: “It is a crime against the state for anybody to steal public funds. Returning stolen funds quietly without being sanctioned is even worse than the crime of stealing the money.
This is morally reprehensible and it can never serve as a deterrent to other corrupt politicians who might want to steal public resources.”
“Buhari is pampering those corrupt leaders by just obtaining looted funds and not jailing them. With all the bragging and the promises he made during the campaign, we expected that his war against corruption will be ruthless.”
“These public thieves carted away our national assets and in the process, impoverished many Nigerians. Corruption is also responsible for the infrastructural decay we are experiencing. The roads are bad and many Nigerian youths cannot find jobs.”
“I think it is morally reprehensible for any government to let those returning stolen funds to go scot-free. Buhari must mention their names and stop pampering them. Corruption has robbed us of valuable infrastructure and the opportunity to develop as a country.
“I once had a similar case and the criminals were convicted while the stolen funds were traced and recovered. So it is possible to recover stolen funds and prosecute those involved.
He should prosecute the thieves, trace the stolen funds and enforce restitution of the public resources. Not mentioning their names is tantamount to pampering them.”
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