The Nation Newspaper

Tag: PACAC

  • Sani seeks dissolution of Sagay-led PACAC for incompetence

    Sani seeks dissolution of Sagay-led PACAC for incompetence

    The Chairman of Senate Adhoc Committee on Mounting Humanitarian Crisis in the North East, Senator Shehu Sani, on Thursday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to dissolve the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC).

    Sani, who spoke to journalists in Abuja following the suspension of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Engr. Babachir David Lawal, said President Buhari did not need a forum of advisers on corruption to effectively fight corruption.

    The Kaduna Central lawmaker noted that the suspension of Lawal is a clear indication that PACAC, which once defended the suspended SGF, is not competent to work in its capacity.

    Sani said, “President Muhammadu Buhari should as a matter of urgency dissolve his Presidential Advisory Council on Corruption. It is a moribund and irrelevant assemblage.

    “A Presidential Advisory Committee headed by a man who defended the SGF is without honour.

    “Professor Itse Sagay attacked me for my report on Presidential Initiative on North East (PINE); now that the President has taken steps in the direction of the committee report, I hope the Prof. will muster the courage to also attack the President.

    “The advisory committee was looking for corruption in Sokoto while it is there in shokoto.

    “It is sad that most of the mercenary forces hired to rubbish the integrity of the Senate committee and defend those indicted have suddenly lost their voice.’’

    Sani, who is also Chairman, Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, described as reprehensible “the fact that the humanitarian situation in the North East was made an industry where government officials and even NGOs profit from the suffering and the hardships of millions of victims.’’

    He lamented that while some people saw the millions of orphans and widows produced by the North East crisis as victims, others saw them as cash cows.

     

  • Osinbajo to Nigerians: Deligitimise corruption totally

    Osinbajo to Nigerians: Deligitimise corruption totally

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday urged Nigerians to completely delegitimise corruption in the country.

    He made the call during a meeting with a delegation of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) led by its Chairman, Prof. Itse Sagay, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo also urged anti-corruption agencies in the country to step up their engagement with the Nigerian public because there are still those who think that it is permissible for politicians from their communities to steal.

    He said: “How we communicate what is going on regarding corruption is important. There are still those who think a politician who steals, is some kind of ‘Robin Hood,’ instead of being vilified.

    “Some people believe that if ‘my kinsman’ steals it is ok.”

    But he stressed that it is important to completely delegitimise corruption especially through the way it is communicated.

    He praised the PACAC for the excellent work it has done from the beginning to date.

    According to him, the Committee has done very well by removing the skepticism on whether an anti-corruption initiative can work well in the country.

    He pointed out that the Committee has given credibility to the anti-corruption war in the country.

    The vice president also noted that it is important that corruption trials to be concluded promptly once they have commenced.

    In his comments at the meeting, Prof. Sagay said PACAC has engaged with all anti-corruption agencies in the country, including the police and the judiciary.

    “We are cooperating effectively well with them,” he said.

     

  • Sagay committee seeks review of financial penalties

    The Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) has called for a review of some provisions in criminal laws that provide the option of fine as penalties for economic crimes.

    The committee, headed by eminent professor of law, Itse Sagay (SAN), made this recommendation in the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Corruption and Other Related Economic Offences, produced by PACAC, a copy of which our correspondent obtained on Wednesday.

    Some laws, such as the Money Laundering Act, have provisions for options of fine, which are sometimes not commensurate with the offence.

    For instance, a former director of the Police Pension Board, Yakubu Yusuf, who allegedly stole N32.8 billion, was sentenced two years imprisonment with an option of N750, 000 fine, which he paid.

    PACAC said in the Guidelines: “Although imprisonment is a serious punitive measure for any crime, criminological studies have shown that the most effective punishment for any economic crime including corruption that involves direct or indirect financial gain to the offender or any other person, is punishment that strikes at the motivation for the offence, which is financial gain.

    “Further, imprisonment comes with serious costs and even though it may be widely regarded as the penalty that sends a sufficiently strong enough deterrent signal to the society about a crime, the fine is no less effective when it is rigorously applied.

    “Against this backdrop, it is important to ensure that the laws creating the relevant offences adequately provide for financial penalties that are commensurate to the level of offences. Unfortunately, this is not the case presently.

    “The amounts imposed by legislation as fines for offences and the scheme of monetary jurisdiction for the lower courts make it difficult for the courts to adequately sentence using the fine.

    “The inadequate provisions relating to other ancillary financial measures limit the prospect for effectively using these measures.”

    According to the Guideline, a sentence must be proportionate to the seriousness of the offence, which is determinable by (a) its nature; (b) quantum of punishment specified by the legislature for the offence; (c) degree of culpability of the offender; and (d) harm occasioned.

    The guidelines provide an eight-step matrix of the sentencing process. The first step is determining the offence category in terms of high, medium or lesser culpability.

    “Harm is assessed in relation to any impact caused by the offending (whether to identifiable victims or in a wider context) and the actual or intended gain to the offender,” it says.

     

  • Nitel/Mtel’s creditors report liquidator to FRCN, PACAC

    Creditors have dragged the appointed liquidator for Nitel/Mtel, Otunba Olutola Senbore, before the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) and the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC).

    In a petition, signed by a representative of the creditors, Mr. Sebagen Henry Noboh and dated October 20 this year, the complainants decried what they considered lack of accountability in the payment of their claims.

    According to them, the Liquidator has paid only 16.5 per cent of the amount stated in his offer letters to individual creditors, leaving a balance of 83.5 per cent unaccounted for. The offer letters, dated May 12, last year were personally signed by the Liquidator.

    They added that the 16.5 per cent was paid to them in two installments of 15 per cent in May 2015; and 1.5 per cent in July this year, an interval of 14 months.

    At issue is the N51, 648, 643, 000 proceeds from the sale of the core assets of Nitel/Mtel to Natcom Consortium for $252.25 million by the last administration.

    The Consortium had fully paid up since March 2015, but the creditors are still struggling to get their money from the Liquidator, more than 18 months after he received the money.

  • Lawyers, judges frustrating anti-graft war, say SGF, Falana, Sagay

    Lawyers, judges frustrating anti-graft war, say SGF, Falana, Sagay

    The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal, Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN) and rights activist, Femi Falana (SAN) said on Thursday that activities of professionals, particularly lawyers and judges were frustrating efforts by the Federal Government to curb acts of corruption and impunity in the country.

    Lawal, Sagay, Falana and others, who spoke in Abuja at a workshop on the “Role of professionals in the fight against corruption,” were unanimous on the need for professionals to put societal interest above individual preferences, uphold professional ethics, and support government’s efforts to enthrone transparency in the conduct of state affairs.

    The workshop was put together by PACAC, Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN) and the Convention on Business Integrity (CBI).

    Lawal said the role of lawyers and some compromised judges, who offer their expertise to indicted individuals and deploy delay tactics and other underhand methods to frustrate the successful prosecution of criminal cases, was particularly injurious to the federal government’s anti-corruption campaign.

    Represented by the Director, Nigerian national Volunteer Services (NNVS), Tor Tsavsar, the SGF said there was need for professionals to see themselves as stakeholders in government’s anti-graft efforts if the country was to grow and attain needed development.

    He said, “From recent revelations, corruption is usually aided and facilitated by conniving civil servants and professionals in the public and private sectors. It is no news that most stolen funds are laundered through our banks and other offshore entities that are owned and managed by professionals.

    “A recent case of the ‘Panama Papers scandals’ is an example of how politicians, criminals and rogue industries were assisted by professionals to launder stolen funds. It is equally regrettable that some of the professionals do not stop at aiding, abetting and facilitating the stealing of public funds, but more often than not, go further to offer direct and indirect support to indicted officials to beat the law.

    “It is no more news that corrupt officials are able to engage some of our seasoned lawyers, who employ negative tactics ‘in or out of court’ to frustrate trials of indicted officials. The retinue of frivolous interlocutory applications, which are pursued up to the apex court, while action on substantive matters are stayed, are common examples of how professional lawyers frustrate the fight against corruption.”

    Sagay, who deplored the conduct of professionals who aid corruption and fraud, said the federal government was looking at ways of ensuring that those, who aid acts of fraud and corruption, are also prosecuted.

    He said the workshop was intended to seek the support of professional bodies, and draw their attention to their responsibilities in this regard.

    Falana urged the federal government and anti-graft agencies to look beyond public officers and politically exposed individuals to include professionals, drug dealers and human traffickers in their activities.