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For corruption fight to succeed, investigations must be done ‘not on pages of newspapers’- Osinbajo

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OSINBAJO: Corruption under Jonathan destroyed Nigeria’s economy

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday declared that the anti-corruption fight in the country could only succeed if proper and thorough investigations and prosecution were conducted.

He said, “Investigations must be conducted properly and thoroughly, not on the pages of newspapers, but before cases go to court, so that when such cases reach the court; what is presented will be the best possible case that the prosecution can present”.

Osinbajo stated this at the opening of a two-day capacity building workshop for justices and judges, organised by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in collaboration with the National Judicial Institute (NJI) in Abuja.

The vice president said that the administration was “re-jigging” the entire anti-corruption system for speedy dispensation of justice.

Read also: METUH’S TRIAL: Despite order, Jonathan fails to appear as court insists on Dasuki’s testimony

“We are re-jigging the entire system; the Chief Justice of the Federation has laid down the rules and he has encouraged everyone to follow suit.

“There is no question at all that this is the time for us to open a new page in the entire anti-corruption fight’.’
Osinbajo, expressing satisfaction that the judiciary was on board, assured of the executive’s support in ensuring thorough investigation of cases and speedy dispensation of justice.

According to him, “this is a collaborative venture of all, and the executive, judiciary and legislature must see this as a fight for the soul of our nation.’’

He praised the CJN’s new initiatives and the practice directives issued by the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal in the Administration of Justice Act.

Osinbajo argued that all the nations that succeeded in winning the war against corruption, had to change their administration of justice system and the approaches of investigation and trial of corruption cases.

“Investigations must be conducted properly and thoroughly, not on the pages of newspapers, but before cases go to court, so that when such cases reach the court; what is presented will be the best possible case that the prosecution can present.

“Most of the countries that have successfully dealt with corruption have had to dispense with needless technicality and focused on the offence.

“In the case of public officers, they recognise that there can be no real explanation for a public officer whose pay is public knowledge to have cash and assets several times more than his earnings, let alone his savings.

“If somebody earns in excess of what he should possibly even save in several lifetime, freeing him technically can never make sense, it will always seem that something has gone wrong with the system’,’ he stated.

The Vice President also noted that most countries recognised that even the whole process of decision- making must be reasonable, “otherwise it would undermine the very fundamentals of judiciary and justice.’’

“If the fundamental of justice is undermined, everything is undermined,’’ he said. According to Osinbajo, the misery and loss of lives on account of corruption far exceeds that of any other single crime, adding that “if you look at the extent of damage caused by corruption, it surely is a crime against humanity”.

He noted that “impunity seems magnified when trial of alleged perpetrators of corruption never seems to end.

“And that such individuals can afford the best legal assistance only deepens the course of hopelessness that the corrupt will never be punished.’’

The Vice President contended that the Boko Haram insurgency escalated because of the diversion of funds meant to prosecute the war.

He also stated that the reason the country did not build any new infrastructure in the last six years in spite of the huge oil revenue was because of public sector corruption.

“Corruption threatens our security, health, education and even our corporate existence’’ he said, adding that it was the reason that Garvey, a global health fund for vaccine provision in developing countries, withdrew support for Nigeria for alleged mismanagement of funds between 2011 and 2013.

He stated that the country had to refund $2.2 million, meant for drugs to fight HIV/Aids, TB and Malaria amongst the poor.

Osinbajo said a lot of illicitly acquired funds were used to subvert justice, bribe government officials, judicial officers, the media, and compromise the legislature.

 

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0 Comments

  1. yanju omotodun

    October 26, 2017 at 6:55 am

    SAN is talking, but he has forgotten that Nigerians are bigger SANs

  2. Animashaun Ayodeji

    October 26, 2017 at 11:33 am

    This is a direct message to Nigerian journalists who don’t conduct thorough investigation before reporting their stories.

    • Abeni Adebisi

      October 26, 2017 at 11:35 am

      It seems not just the journalists, but the general mass media. A lot of cases have been concluded on the pages of newspapers without having factual information from the court of law.

      • JOHNSON PETER

        October 26, 2017 at 1:02 pm

        It’s still same , who are journalists and who are the mass media?

  3. Abeni Adebisi

    October 26, 2017 at 11:36 am

    Magu should take note of this because he’s the acting chairman of the EFCC and he has lost many cases because the antigraft agency didn’t conduct proper investigation

    • Anita Kingsley

      October 26, 2017 at 11:41 am

      Magu is not competent enough, he’s only using stronghead to lead EFCC, that’s why EFCC has been failing

      • JOHNSON PETER

        October 26, 2017 at 1:02 pm

        That’s a lie, it’s the judiciary frustrating his efforts

  4. Balarabe musa

    October 26, 2017 at 1:35 pm

    Corruption threatens our security, health, education and even our corporate existence’’ he said, adding that it was the reason that Garvey, a global health fund for vaccine provision in developing countries, withdrew support for Nigeria for alleged mismanagement of funds between 2011 and 2013.

    This tell us that the PDP are the harbinger of corruption ,they are the cause of our economic woes

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