Anti-Corruption War Sometimes Used As Excuse To Degrade Rule Of Law – Paul Usoro SAN

President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Paul Usoro, has
said that the Federal Government sometimes uses the anti-corruption
fight as an excuse to degrade the Rule of Law.

According to him, if the government is indeed serious about
fighting corruption, it would directly block the loopholes that
have allowed the menace to thrive.

Mr Usoro who was a guest on Channels TV’s Politics Today on
Wednesday, said this while addressing the issue of Separation of
Powers and the independence of the various arms of government.

He said: “This business of having to fight corruption…sometimes,
it is used as an excuse to infringe on people’s rights and degrade
the Rule of Law.

“If the government is seriously interested in having to fight
corruption, the significant way to do it is to look at those
loopholes in the system and make sure you plug those
loopholes”.

The NBA boss also took a swipe at the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the manner in which he says the agency
goes about fighting corruption.

According to him, recovering monies or winning cases does not
bring an end to corruption.

“I find it very ridiculous that for example (the EFCC), its
index for establishing that it is fighting corruption is how much
money that it recovers and how many cases that it wins in
court.

“That doesn’t stop corruption.

“On the other hand, if for example you find that petroleum
subsidy enhances corruption, then government needs to look into
it.

“If you look into it, then you will block that oxygen that gives
life to corruption,” he said.