FORMER President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on Monday said prevailing corruption across various sectors of the country was responsible for making many poor Nigerians poorer by the day, warning that the situation would continue to undermine meaningful development.
News Point Nigeria reports that Obasanjo made the declaration while speaking at the public presentation of a three-volume book, “Unexplained Wealth: A Trilogy of Nigerian Financial Law,” written by Dr Wahab Shittu.
Obasanjo, who chaired the event, described corruption as “development’s greatest, deadly peril”, arguing that unexplained wealth was anti-social, anti-development and anti-progress.
He expressed regret that the underprivileged suffer the most in a corrupt society, as corruption further impoverishes those who are already struggling to make ends meet.
“Those who suffer most in a corrupt society are the poor and it makes them poorer,” he said.
The former president therefore called for those responsible for the nation’s woes to be held accountable for their crimes, stressing that it would be virtually impossible for Nigeria to make meaningful progress as long as corruption was allowed to thrive.
He added that some of the efforts he made while in office to check corruption included the establishment of anti-corruption agencies such as the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Former Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, called for a fair and constitutionally sound system for recovering stolen assets without criminalising legitimately acquired wealth.
Osinbajo, who was represented at the event by his former Chief of Staff, Ade Ipaye, argued that what Nigeria needed most urgently was a clear, fair and constitutionally sound approach capable of recovering what was stolen without threatening what was lawfully earned.
The book reviewer, Professor Olanrewaju Fagbohun, SAN, said a lack of conventional documentation should not be taken as automatic proof of criminality.
Explaining the rationale behind the three-volume book, Shittu said the decision to produce the work stemmed from the need to help create a system capable of distinguishing legitimate wealth from illicit enrichment.
He said reliable records were essential to the fight against corruption, warning that without them, society could end up “suspecting everyone and proving nothing”.
Shittu stressed that becoming wealthy was not a crime, but acquiring wealth through dubious means was.
“Making wealth, becoming rich, is not a crime. It’s not a crime at all. But becoming rich and making wealth dubiously is a crime,” he said.