Corruption: Group supports death penalty for looters of public funds in Nigeria

*The Ndigbo Unity Forum urges President Muhammad Buhari to institute more stringent measures and seriousness in the ongoing anti-graft war as some public office holders, by their words and actions, think the anti-graft war is a ruse in the country

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

In a decisive move to eradicate the cankerworms of official corruption and looting of public treasury in the country, the Ndigbo Unity Forum (NUF) worldwide, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has advocated the death penalty for looters of public funds in order to eliminate the current spate of corruption in Nigeria.

Mr. Augustine Chukwudum, President of NUF, and Mr. Tony Igbokwe, jointly made the call in a statement issued Sunday, June 20, 2021, in Enugu, Enugu State.

The group called on the country’s National Assembly (NASS) to remove the immunity clause from the constitution, so that sitting governors and other top-ranking public officials could be investigated while still in office.

The NUF said: “If found guilty, he will be prosecuted, this will go a long way in stopping the ongoing daily looting, especially at the state level.’’

“We also demand that institutions like EFCC, ICPC and the judiciary be strengthened so that no one can be above the law as it is today.

“Everybody must be treated equally as it is in the U.S, Britain, Canada and other countries of the world.”

The statement as well urged President Muhammad Buhari to institute more stringent measures and seriousness in the ongoing anti-graft war as some public office holders, by their words and actions, think the anti-graft war is still a ruse in the country.

The group said: “By so doing, justice must prevail, not in a case where ex-Managing Director of Bank PHB, Francis Atuche, who stole billions of Naira, was recently sent to jail for a term of six years imprisonment.

“While someone who stole vegetable that was less than N1,000 value was abandoned for more than five years as an Awaiting Trial Mate (ATM).”

It was a big irony for looters of public funds to be moving with heavy Police escorts, while enjoying their loot inside the country while several millions of Nigerians go to bed hungry, noted the statement.

The NUF added: “The common people, whose wealth was stolen, are dying daily of hunger, lack of potable water, bad roads, no functional hospital and no standard primary and secondary schools.”