The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Crimes Commission have said they are not seeking any amendment to acts that established them or other laws that prescribe punishment for persons found guilty of fraud and embezzlement of public funds.In an earlier report, some lawyers had prescribed death sentence for corrupt public office holders as a drastic measure to curtail corruption in the country.
The lawyers said this after the sentencing of a 26-year-old man, Obinna John, to death by hanging for robbing a woman of N1, 705 by Jos High Court, last month.
The legal practitioners stated the constitution was to blame for the disparity between the punishment meted to John and that meted to persons who were found guilty of embezzling public funds to the tune of billions of naira.
They stated that there was need to take advantage of the ongoing constitutional review to institute more stringent penalties for corrupt practices.
However, reacting to the demand, the Acting Head, Media and Public Relations, EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, said it was not the commission’s responsibility to prescribe penalties for financial crimes or review existing laws.
“We have not sponsored such a bill and we are not planning to do so. As a law enforcement agency, our job is to prosecute offenders based on what the law says. People have the right to hold their opinions on what the punishment for people found guilty of bribery or other corrupt practices should be, but the amendment of the constitution is the job of the National Assembly,” he said.
Similarly, the spokesperson for ICPC, Mr. Folu Olamiti, said the commission had no opinion on the issue of reviewing corruption laws.
Olamiti stated that the ICPC Chairman, Mr. Ekpo Nta, was of the opinion that reviewing the law should be left for the National Assembly.
“We don’t have any opinion whatsoever on the issue of punishment prescribed by the law for corrupt practices. It is the National Assembly the makes laws. It is whatever laws they make we use to prosecute offenders,” he said.
The penalties prescribed by the Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act 2000, range from seven to three years imprisonment and these are penalties for offences such as bribery, inflation of contracts, and falsification of documents.
The Senate Spokesman, Enyinnaya Abaribe, told SUNDAY PUNCH that the only bill before the Senate seeking to review the Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act had not been discussed.
“As much as I know, the only bill before the Senate that has to do with penalty for corruption is one that was brought by Andy Uba, and it has yet to be discussed,” he said.
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