Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says the anti-corruption
fight in the country must take a new turn for it to
succeed.
Osinbajo said this on Tuesday at the opening of a
two-day capacity building workshop for justices and
judges, organised by the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) in collaboration with the
National Judicial Institute (NJI) in Abuja.
He said the administration was reviving the anti-
corruption system for speedy dispensation of justice.
“We are re-jigging the entire system; the chief justice
of the federation has laid down the rules and he has
encouraged everyone to follow suit,” he said.
“There is no question at all that this is the time for us
to open a new page in the entire anti-corruption fight.’’
While expressing joy that the judiciary was on board,
the vice-president pledged the executive’s support in
ensuring effective investigation of cases and speedy
dispensation of justice.
“Investigations must be conducted properly and
thoroughly, not on the pages of newspapers, but
before cases go to court, so that when such cases
reach the court; what is presented will be the best
possible case that the prosecution can present.”
He said the anti-graft war is a “collaborative venture of
all,” and that the executive, judiciary and legislature
must see it as “a fight for the soul of our nation”.
Osinbajo observed that all the nations that succeeded
in winning the war against graft had to change the
administration of justice system as well as the
methods of investigation and trial of corruption cases.
“Most of the countries that have successfully dealt
with corruption have had to dispense with needless
technicality and focused on the offence,” he said.
“In the case of public officers, they recognise that
there can be no real explanation for a public officer
whose pay is public knowledge to have cash and
assets several times more than his earnings, let alone
his savings.
“If somebody earns in excess of what he should
possibly even save in several lifetime, freeing him
technically can never make sense, it will always seem
that something has gone wrong with the system.
“Corruption threatens our security, health, education
and even our corporate existence.”
TheCable
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