Expedite action on anti-corruption special courts bill, group asks N/Assembly

The National Assembly should expedite passage of the bill for creation of special courts to handle corruption matters in the country to fastract trial and conviction of more corrupt politicians and public office holders, the Global Centre for Conscious Living Against Corruption (GLOCCOLAC) has said.

Addressing a press conference yesterday in Abuja, to mark the International Anti-Corruption Day, the leader of the group, Dr. Nwambu Gabriel, said the conviction of former governors of Taraba State, Jolly Nyame, Joshua Dariye (Plateau) and Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia) had proven that President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war was working.

He said that corruption cases should be given accelerated handling, adding that Senator Kalu who is the Senate’s Chief Whip should resign his seat as Senator representing Abia North senatorial distric as it would be morally wrong for him as a convict to still represent the people from jail.

“There are some other similar cases that have been in court for several years and no body is doing anything about them. We expect that this long delay may become a thing of the past once this special court become operational.

“This major conviction would also serve as a deterrent to other public office holders who may still want to divert tax payers’ money for their private uses. The conviction of Senator Kalu, a chieftain of the ruling APC may have also erased growing doubt in the mind of many Nigerians that Buhari’s anti-corruption war was selective.

“We want to encourage the judiciary to sustain the tempo and expedite action on many other politicians with similar cases pending before the court. We have nothing against Kalu or any other person standing trial, but we are more concerned about the long delay in the handling of such cases.

“The delay in the handling of these high profile corruption cases has continued to put the anti-corruption war of president Buhari to ridicule both locally and internationally.

“As anti-corruption crusaders, we expect conviction of more public officers charged with similar high-profile financial crime cases across the country,” he said.