The obvious
miscarriage of justice perpetrated on Monday by a Federal High Court in Abuja,
which sentenced a public servant, John Yakubu Yusuf, to two years imprisonment
with a fine option of N750,000, for conspiracy and stealing of N32.8 billion
from police pension funds; a fine the convict happily paid on the spot and
walked away a free man, will go down in history as one of the most ridiculous
efforts of the judiciary in stemming the tide of corruption in Nigeria. Yusuf,
an Assistant Director with the Police Pension Board, was standing trial with
about five others for the mind boggling theft committed between January 2009
and June 2011. In making a mockery of the case, the trial judge, Justice Mohammed
Talba, according to reports, said the convict “actually assisted the court by
confessing to have taken N3 billion as his share from the stolen N32.8
billion”.
The judge
ruled that the convict must forfeit a total of 32 properties and the sum of
N325 million. In Europe or America, the likes of Yusuf would have been
sentenced to pretty long terms in prison to serve as deterrent. In Asia, such
felons must have committed suicide even before being sentenced to death. It is
on record that former governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori, pleaded
guilty of fraud and money laundering charges at a London court in February
2012.
But Judge
Anthony Pitts who handled the case, recognising the gravity of the offence,
discountenanced Ibori’s self confession and sentenced him to 13 years in prison
the following April.
Before the
London judgment, a Federal High Court in Asaba, the Delta State capital,
presided over by Justice Marcel Awokulehin, had in 2009, discharged and
acquitted Ibori of a 170- count charge of stealing and money laundering. It is
unacceptable that selfconfessed convicts in Nigeria are offered ludicrous
options of fine with a pat on the back for crimes that should attract maximum
punitive measures.
How much do
bank robbers steal that often earn them the harshest sentences in court when
caught? We shudder at what fate holds in stock for the nation, its resources
and suffering pensioners if heartless pension thieves can be treated with kid
gloves.
Nigeria has
become a nation whose law enforcement institutions, the judiciary, and
reformatory establishments retard or scuttle the cause of justice, instead of
advancing same. Through dubious plea bargains, high profile crimes, especially
public treasuring looting and outright frauds, including the recent subsidy
scam, go unpunished.
The judiciary
in particular remains an accomplice in plots to sabotage attempts by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to bring some past governors,
especially those who served between 1999 and 2007, accused of plundering the
resources of their states, to book through the granting of perpetual
injunctions against their prosecution. Trailing the police and the judiciary
since 1999 are many unresolved high wire assassination cases, that of Chief
Bola Ige, the nation’s one time power minister, inclusive. Insurgents and
militants are treated like kings and rewarded with mouth-watering contracts,
instead of being punished.
How else does
the nation hope to contain high brow crimes and treasonable felonies if not
through the firm application of the law and the right punishment for culprits?
Why are foreign nations now more committed to punishing Nigerians who ruined
Nigeria and Nigerians, than the Nigerian judiciary?
Corruption is
consuming the nation the more and retarding development in all sectors of the
economy and facets of life. Nigeria is going and going. It may crumble one day
because of self-inflicted fatalities. The Federal Government can no longer
feign ignorance of the high premium nations that crave survival place on
punishment for crimes.
Except the
government wishes to hide under the rot as veil to cover up its own excesses and
recklessness, something ought the done fast to redress the situation. The FG
should positively redefine its inputs in the nation’s criminal justice
institutions and processes; while the National Assembly should come up with the
right laws to strengthen criminal justice delivery. If the fault is that of the
judiciary, compromised and non-credible judges should be identified and flushed
out.
If it is that
of the National Judicial Council (NJC), the laws establishing it should be
radically reviewed to enable credible and eminent Nigerians from other
professions, who understand and appreciate the level of the rot, to be part of
the Council, and not just judges and lawyers some of whom benefit from the
stinking system. If it is that of errant lawyers, they should be hounded out
and severely punished, too. The FG should make hay while the sun shines.
If the
government fails to take steps to ensure that the country’s law enforcement
agencies, the judiciary and reformatories are no more sellouts, the catastrophe
that may follow will not spare anyone. And while the nation grieves, we implore
the EFCC to file an appeal against the Justice Talba ruling.
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