An anti-corruption group, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy
Centre, CISLAC, has declared that the fight against corruption in Nigeria is
being hampered because the law favours accused persons.
Senior Programme Officer of CISLAC, Kolawole Banwo said this
in an interview with DAILY POST.
Banwo’s reaction was coming on the backdrop of recent events
that have seen high-profile corruption cases suffer in the judiciary.
He said laws in Nigeria were complicated, which allowed
lawyers to take advantage of the loopholes.
He also said anti-graft agencies, including the EFCC, the
ICPC and others should always carry-out thorough investigation before going to
court, adding that media hypes also did a lot of damage to corruption cases.
Banwo said CISLAC is not surprised that the Code of Conduct
Tribunal discharged Senate President Bukola Saraki, noting that the leader of
the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu got similar favour.
“Generally, the laws in our country favours accused persons.
You are presumed innocent until you are proven guilty and the law is so
complicated that leaves many loopholes and technicalities with which smart
lawyers can get accused persons off the hook.
“Those laws were not made today. They have been there. That
is why you see lawyers taking advantage of our week laws. So what we can do is
to amend these laws.
“The situation with the Senate President is not so
surprising because the same case Saraki was charged to court was the same case
Bola Tinubu was also charged to court.
“If Tinubu was let off the hook based on some certain
technicalities, why shouldn’t Saraki be discharged.
“In all, we expect the EFCC and other anti graft agencies to
carry out more investigation before going to court because they seem to be in a
hurry and they end up making mistakes.
“All these media trials when you do not have substantial
evidence against a suspect should stop,” Banwo said.
By Victor Azubuike
