Lawmakers mull death sentence for corruption

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The Senate and House Committees on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes have said that they are seriously considering the imposition of death penalties for corrupt acts in the country.

They say that countries that have adopted the penalty including China and Singapore have seen corruption reduce to lowest rates and have witnessed a large amount of development.

Speaking at a two day retreat themed, Tackling Corruption Through Credible Legislation, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes, Victor Lar said lawmakers would review the merits and principles of the proposal by examining international best practices.

Lar said, “China has adopted the death penalty and corruption has been knocked down to the barest minimum. So also has Singapore and other countries. So, I believe it is something worth considering.

“Going beyond that, everybody who is living visibly above his means will be requested to come and account for what he has. Until we get to that point, the frustration in the polity about the perversity of corruption and the mind-bugling sums that are taken from the public purse will continue to agitate the minds of Nigerians. I believe these are some of the measures that can be taken.

“Modern-day fight against terrorism, corruption and all social ills do not necessarily involve brute force. It is about improved intelligence gathering. How is corruption perpetrated? I would advocate a systemic review of the financial systems in Nigeria with the view to identifying areas of leakage and how to trim them.”

His House of Reps counterpart, Adam Jagaba noted that the essence of law was to deter people from committing crimes and not to encourage them to be corrupt.

He said: “The intent of the law is to deter people from committing crimes and not to have a law that encourages people to be corrupt. So, when you attach life sentence, for instance, or death sentence or longer sentences, it deters people. People become scared of committing crimes. They have to sit down and think if it is worth it.

“Somebody who steals a goat gets three to six years jail term but someone who steals billions gets six months’ jail term and he uses his money to bring people to dance for him at his exit from prison. It is wrong.”

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