Leader
of the Senate, Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN) has urged the Nigerian judiciary to be
more resourceful in order to avoid sending wrong messages to the world.
Ndoma-Egba
was speaking against the backdrop of the recent judgment passed by a High Court
in Abuja, in which a pension thief, Mr. John Yakubu Yusuf, was sentenced to two
years’ imprisonment with an option of N750, 000 bail for conniving with others
to steal N27.2bn from the Police Pension Office.
In an
interview granted to the Punch in Abuja, Ndoma-Egba said, “I think
the judiciary has to be more resourceful and more creative because we are
sending a very wrong message… The message we are sending out is that our
commitment to the fight against corruption and even terrorism is mere lip
service.
“That is the
message we are sending out. And then, there is of course, a more fundamental,
philosophical and ethical issue… Now, when somebody who embezzled N27.2bn is
asked to pay a fine of N750, 000, how do you convince a young man that crime
does not pay? He would rather embezzle that amount of money, pay N750, 000 and
move on in life. So, we must be very careful as institutions.
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