Lai Mohammed at the UNILAG lecture
The Minister of
Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, says the present
Administration will continue to fight corruption within the confines of
the Rule of Law, but warned that the Rule of Law was not intended to be
used as a weapon to hamper the dispensation of justice.
”In response to the
ongoing anti-corruption efforts of the government, an increasing number
of voices have emerged in defence of suspects being indicted for various
acts of corruption by the courts of law under the banner of upholding
the Rule of Law.
”Let me stress that
the Rule of Law is not and was never intended to be used as a line of
defense for suspects undergoing trial for corrupt practices in the
courts of law that are lawfully constituted and endowed with the
legitimate authority to carry out same trial,” the Minister said at a
symposium organized by the Gani Fawehinmi Students’ Chamber of the
Faculty of Law, University of Lagos.
He said the
Administration is a product and true advocate of the Rule of Law, and
that ”there is no greater proponent of that time-tested legal principle
than Mr. President himself.”
The Minister said
there was nothing questionable in the Administration’s approach to
fighting corruption, adding: ”The government is bound by law and is
following the Rule of Law in its anti-corruption efforts. Were this not
the case, the accused persons so far charged would not be having their
day in court.”
He said each society
had used methods expedient to it to fight corruption at different times
in their own history, citing the example of Singapore which once fought
corruption by suspending rule of law and fundamental rights.
”The current
Nigerian government has not requested for emergency powers to tackle
corruption, even though some school of thought unequivocally believes
that Nigeria is in an emergency, with high unemployment, unpaid
salaries, reduced income, insurgency, reduced oil income and primitive
looting of the treasury by the immediate past administration,” Alhaji
Mohammed said.
Rallying support for
the fight against corruption, he said the battle is a constitutional
imperative, and quoted Section 15 (5) of the Constitution, which says:
“The State shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of office.”
”So, President
Buhari was only giving life to this very important provision, with all
his targeted actions against corruption and his rallying cry to all
Nigerian patriots in the forefront of the war:
‘Nigeria must kill corruption before corruption kills
Nigeria’. I hope you will join us in this epic battle, because it is not
Buhari’s war, it is not APC’s war. It is Nigeria’s war of survival,”
the Minister said.
Discussants at the
symposium, including Mr. Femi Falana and Mr. Jiti Ogunye, expressed
support for the anti-corruption battle, saying those who are charged
with corruption cannot use the bogey of the Rule of Law to escape
justice.
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