The Taraba State Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, Ibrahim El-Sudi has described the plea bargaining enshrined in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act as encouraging corruption in Nigeria.
El-Sudi stated this while answering questions from journalists in his office in Jalingo, the Taraba state capital.
Section 14(2) of the EFCC Act gives the legal backing for the use of plea bargain in the prosecution of cases by EFCC in Nigeria.
This means that EFCC may compound any offence punishable under this Act by accepting some certain sum of money as it thinks fit exceeding the amount of maximum fine to which the person would have been liable if he had been convicted of that offence.
The EFCC adopts the system of plea bargaining to enable them to secure a conviction or recover proceeds of looted funds and minimize resources while maximizing its effectiveness.
But El-Sudi said Nigerians need to take the anti-graft war very serious because corruption has dealt with the country.
“In my view, corrupt leaders are even deadlier than terrorists and other criminal elements terrorising the people.
The APC chairman said corrupt leaders are the major cause of death as they have succeeded in embezzling resources meant for health, food and other infrastructures.
“They are responsible for millions of deaths due to the poor health sector, bad roads, hunger, and just about every other decayed section of our society.
“Even the insecurity we are talking about now is partly a consequence of their actions or inactions.
“For me, I think it is very important for the National Assembly to amend the EFCC Act and remove the plea bargain from its books so that those who have denied the people of their patrimony for so long will face the full wrath of the law.”
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