The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, says the present administration will keep on battling corruption within the limitations of the Rule of Law.
Mohammed however, said that Rule of Law was not planned to be utilized as a weapon to hamper the allotment of equity.
He said the anti-corruption crusade of the Muhammadu Buhari government is Nigeria’s war of survival.
“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.
“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 every society had utilized techniques convenient to it to battle corruption at various times in their own history, referring to the illustration of Singapore which once battled corruption by suspending rule of law and essential 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.”
”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.”
