Akinyemi wants life jail for corrupt officials

Former Nigerian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi has suggested life imprisonment for officials found guilty of corruption.

Akinyemi made the suggestion in a paper he presented at a one-day national discourse on corruption held in Minna on Thursday.

He said such corrupt officials should also forfeit all stolen assets. The former minister said in a “genuine war against corruption, there must be no bail for those charged with corruption. The onus should be the accused to prove he or she acquired the assets legitimately.“

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, also said at the forum that the fight against corruption was the fight for the survival of Nigeria.

Abubakar, represented by the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, at a national discourse on corruption, said corruption undermined moral integrity and affected social, economic and political development.

He said the curbing of corruption in Nigeria was an essential step in the quest for the attainment of greatness.

He said good governance and development could only be realised when concerted efforts were made to check corruption.

“Sultan Mohammed Bello of blessed memory in his days as sultan asked his followers to make a clarification between public property and private possession and to safeguard the former in a divine trust.

“Sultan Mohammed Bello is said to have maintained two lands in his house, one for his public duties and the other for his private activities.

“I use this forum to make a special call on leaders of all strata in our society to start the fight against corruption as religious and traditional rulers have a responsibility as the moral vanguards of this gathering,’’ Abubakar said.

He said people should resist the temptation to turn religious and traditional institutions into vehicles for amassing wealth illegally.

Akinyemi also called for conscious constitutional and public policy efforts to guarantee Nigerians a sense of belonging and inconclusiveness.

He said “there is no excuse for the exclusion of North-East and South-West from the top 12 posts at the federal level. No federal office holders should have ADC, press secretary, special assistants or chief of staff from his own zone.

“In each state assembly, 10 per cent of the seats should be reserved for non-indigenes. In each state’s cabinet, at least two cabinet posts must be reserved for non-indigenes.“

Akinyemi said if the suggestions were adopted, they would allay the fears of Nigerians.

He said “the Nigerian project needs urgent fundamental restructuring and that restructuring must be based on a grand consensus among the elite.”