Former governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, has said a bill before the House of Representatives seeking amnesty for treasury looters would only legitimise corruption.
Musa said he was disappointed with the lawmakers for even discussing the bill.
“Honestly, I am terribly disappointed that a bill like that is being discussed at the National Assembly.
“The bill is immoral and it shows the level of moral degeneration the country has attained, especially at the leadership level.
“The proposal, to me, is a way of legitimising corruption because you are telling people to loot and declare maybe, part of the loot, then, you are set free.
“This is not good for Nigeria, for development and for the fight against corruption,” he said. The bill, sponsored by Linus Okorie, was read for the first time on the floor of the House on June 14, 2017.
The proposed law seeks to allow those who looted public treasury to return a certain percentage of the money, in exchange for total amnesty from prosecution.
Musa, who questioned the morality of the lawmakers for even discussing the bill, urged them to drop it, and sid it hurts the collective interest of Nigerians.
Also speaking on the issue, Chairman, Center for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL), Mr Debo Adeniran, said if the bill is allowed to become law, it would encourage corruption with impunity.
He added that what the country needs at this time are laws that will strengthen the anti-corruption war and ensure punishment for looters.
“This bill is uncalled for because the only thing it will achieve is to encourage people to steal and return part of the money for amnesty.
“At the end, it will still be victory for corruption and that is not good for the development of the country,” he said. Adeniran also spoke on the decision of the Federal Government to publish names of looters, saying the move would go a long way in discouraging corruption.
He, however, urged government to ensure judicious use of recovered looted funds so as to impact on the lives of the masses.
“Yes, the decision of government to publish names of looters, following a court order, is a welcome development.
“We cannot say we are fighting corruption when people steal money at the expense of the generality of Nigerians and they cannot be identified, so the development is good for the anti-corruption war. However, government must also ensure recovered monies are channelled into development projects.It is not justifiable to have bad roads, unemployment and all of that when recovered monies are lying somewhere. So government should not only publish the names but expend the recovered monies on development projects,” hesaid.