The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), is advocating that any Nigerian found guilty of corruption and convicted should not enjoy state pardon. The AGF also urged the law enforcement agencies to be holistic in their investigations before approaching courts, calling on them to have their dossier intact before summoning anyone for questioning as it will give them leverage against the suspect.
Mr Fagbemi made those statements during a roundtable organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for state attorneys general in Abuja on Monday.
His statement partly said, “I will suggest in our next constitution review exercise that we expunge those found guilty of corruption from benefiting from powers of ‘Prerogative of Mercy’ to serve as a deterrent to others,” he said.
The minister advocated that all hands must be on deck by all stakeholders, especially the AGs, so that corruption will receive the desired attention in the fight.
Fagbemi call on all the AGs to resist nepotistic tendencies, political witch-hunting, rivalry, and bigotry in the fight against corruption just because they want to please their governors.
He insisted that there should be no basis for rationalising corruption or crimes.
He added that just as obtainable in other sane climes, their opinion on corruption cases should be hinged on facts, adding, “We should not give in to public sentiments. In Nigeria, we are polarised along political lines.”
The AGF called on other participants and anti-graft agencies to be holistic and logical in their investigations of cases before arresting suspects to avoid media trials.
He said, “Let us be thorough and take our time before inviting someone for questioning. Don’t do a shoddy job and be quick to say we have caught a big fish…You will catch a big fish. If it is two or three big fish you are able to get in a year and you are thorough, it is alright”.
Meanwhile, he counselled against filing bogus counts of charges against defendants just to generate frenzy in the public against the suspect.
“Nobody wants a 50-count charge…make it five or six and be sure. Make sure you get him (suspect) in,” he concluded.