The Minority Whip in the House of Representatives, Danjuma Barde, on Monday called for imposition of capital punishment on corrupt public officers in the country.
The legislator spoke at a media forum in Kaduna organised by the Kaduna State chapter of the Correspondent’s Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists.
Barde said: “We live in a funny country, where people steal N1,000 and they are put in jail for years, while some other people will steal billions of naira and use that same billions to escape justice.
“If somebody steal from N1 million to N100 million, they should cut his hand and those who steal from N1 billion above should be hanged.”
The lawmaker said he was discussing with other members of the House to provide for the setting up of special courts to handle corruption cases and stiffer penalties for those convicted.
Barde, a three-time member of the House representing Chikun Federal Constituency, said the special courts would speed up the prosecution of those charged with corruption.
He said: “I am a believer of the fact that people should be punished for their crimes, no matter how highly placed they are in the society.
“I also believe that punishment should be segregated such that it should be commensurable to the crime and be punished according to the amount of money they steal.
“I have started discussions with some of my colleague members of the National Assembly on the need to set up a special and dedicated court to try these kind of people so that justice will be dispensed off quickly.”
According to Barde, stiffer punishment like cutting-off of the arm of a convicted person or death sentence will deter other public office holders and individuals.
He said: “If am a Judge and such case or person is brought before me, I will make sure I confiscate his property and sentence him to death.”
He noted that some corrupt public officers were exploiting the loopholes in the nation’s legal system to delay justice.
Barde said: “Some former governors have cases with the EFCC and the ICPC for the last eight years without appearing in court even once.
“There are other corruption cases against some public office holders still pending in the conventional courts and justice is being delayed as some of them even die and leave such cases pending in courts.
“But if the Government establishes a special court to specifically prosecute those corruption cases, it would speed up justice and that would send a warning to people with tendencies of corrupt practices to change their minds.”
Barde, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the measures taken so far in the fight against corruption in the country.
The legislator, however, urged the administration to respect the rule of law and allow those on bail enjoy their freedom pending the determination of cases against them.
Barde said Nigerians must take bold steps to eradicate corruption by supporting ongoing efforts of government to eliminate the scourge.
He said: “Corruption, hunger or poverty does not know party, tribe or religion.
“We know how Nigerians are suffering, so there should be no sympathy for such persons who are involved in such acts.”
NAN.
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