The state governors spoke against this during the National rallies held by NLC members to canvass for support for the Buhari anti corruption drive as well as call for death penalty to be enforced on corrupt government officials.
Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, Fayose argued that death penalty which has been enforced in some other countries has not stopped the looting of public funds in those countries.
“In countries where death penalty was
introduced, it has not stopped looting. In advanced countries like US,
jail sentence is the penalty. What we need is proper moral education to
change orientation of the people. Jail sentence is better; it can
reform,” he told Punch
In the same
vein, the Rivers state Governor, Nyesom Wike who spoke through his media
aide, Opunabo Inko-Tariah, said that death penalty was practiced in the
military regime. He however called for a review of the laws on looting
the Nations treasury
“Nigerians have a role to play
by deriding looters and not to praise them for their fiscal
irresponsibility. There should be a strong punitive measure to
discourage looting because of its domino effects. When a treasury is
looted, there won’t be money for the provision of necessities such as
hospitals, roads, etc. Maybe because it happened in Ghana and
the economy improved, the labour organisations want it in Nigeria. But
that was a military regime and Jerry Rawlings was a military man.
However, the extant laws on looting need serious and urgent review, even
if the death penalty is discouraged.”he said
Ondo
state governor, Olusegun Mimiko, who spoke through his
information commissioner, Kayode Akinmade, said due process must be
followed if Nigerians agree that the death penalty is what should be
meted on corrupt officials.
“We are not under a military
rule; this is democracy and we have constitution that we follow. If it
is put in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
irrespective of whether you are a governor or not, so be it. If that is
what Nigerians want, it is okay. Everybody is against corruption, but
there is a process of making law. Thank God we have a National Assembly
and the state assemblies who are representative of the people. If such
bill could be sent to the national and state assemblies and be passed
into law, it must become a law. If the process is followed and it is
the wish of Nigerians that looters be killed, why not? Let it become a
law. It is a fact that Nigerians are not happy with this corruption tag,
which has slowed down our economic development but if we have a law
that will bring about capital punishment for the looters, it is okay.”he said
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