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An assessment of PMB/APC regime on the fight against corruption


AN ASSESSMENT OF PMB/APC FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION IN THE PAST ONE YEAR: THE NEED FOR LEGAL REFORM AND THE CHALLENGE OF OPERATING WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE EXISTING FRAMEWORK OF RULE OF LAW

By

Femi Aborisade, Esq.

The 2015 victory of PMB shows the aversion of the average Nigerian for corruption. However, there is widespread concern that the regime’s fight against corruption should not be a means of political control, to whip opponents in line.


If the PMB regime could overcome the charge of political and regime bias, taking the fight against corruption forward would require legal reform of a fundamental proportion, a paradigm shift in the law governing criminal prosecution such that as far as allegations of corruption alone are concerned, the suspect should be presumed guilty until he/she proves otherwise beyond reasonable doubt. In other words, it is the accused public officer/former public officer who should discharge the burden of proving that his/her possessions and assets are not products of illicit acts.

Unless and until the proposed legal reform is effected, anti-graft agencies have a responsibility to conduct themselves strictly within the existing legal principle which says that the accused is presumed innocent until the contrary is proved beyond reasonable doubt. Prolonged detention before charging suspects to court, arresting before investigation, and so on, have no room within the existing established criminal justice system. For example, a person accused of an offence under the EFCC Act is not obliged to answer any question in the process of interrogation, except as it concerns giving details of his/her assets. Even in the court, the accused is not compellable to give evidence against himself/herself. This is the import of a community interpretation of sections 35(2), 35(4), 35(5), 35(7), 36(5), 36(6)(a)-(c) and 36(11) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, CFRN, 1999, as amended, section 27(1) of the EFCC Act; section 29 of the Police Act; Abidoye v. F.R.N (2014) 5 NWLR (Pt. 1399) 30 and Chwuemeka v. FRN (2016) 2 NWLR (Pt. 1495) 120.

 As an accusation of corruption is largely documentary, the anti-graft agencies should learn to gather quality evidence, arrest and charge suspects to court speedily and let them proceed to jail speedily in deserving cases, rather than demonizing the judiciary (as the clog in the wheel of the fight against corruption) and engaging in media propaganda.

Femi Aborisade, Esq.

26th May 2016.

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