A civil rights activist and Executive Chairman, Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ), Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman, has recommended amputation or crucifixion in Nigeria as penalty for corruption.

He also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to order the National Judicial Council (NJC) to submit Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) of all the judicial officers across the country to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for investigation.

Comrade Sulaiman also urged the President to extend the anti-corruption crusade to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by telling its officials to submit their BVN to the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) as a way to checkmate electoral fraud against 2019 general elections.

Sulaiman who doubles as Chairman, Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEOS) stated that all the judicial officers, particularly, the judges that had retired from the Bench from year 2000 till date, should also submit their BVN as well because investigation has revealed that some of them have become agents of corruption in the country’s judiciary under the guise of judicial consultancy.

The rights activist maintained that the war against corruption should be dealt with frontally by all and sundry in the land, saying that corruption has eaten deep into the fabrics of Nigeria system.

Speaking with journalists after delivering a lecture entitled, ‘What is Corruption’ during the launch of Oyo State Chapter of the anti-corruption group, Movement Against Corruption and lnjustice (MACI) held at Olubadan’s Palace, Oja-Oba, Ibadan on Wednesday, he said that the fight against the menace would not make any headway unless the anti-graft agencies develop a strong will to stamp out the corruption from all our facet of life.

He stressed: “To have sanity in our judicial and electoral system, all the officers of the two bodies should be made to submit all their Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) to the anti graft agencies in the country. The can of worm of corruption in the two areas were unprecedented and if the nation will get it right in the 2019 general elections, the two sectors should be sanitized and free from corrupt practices. It is a welcome development as the National Assembly is planning to make the Magistrates to be part of judicial officers under the National Judicial Council (NJC) through the ongoing review of the amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Meanwhile, another speaker at the event and Labour Activist, Comrade Abiodun Aremu, disclosed that adoption of International Monetary Fund (IMF) economic programmes would spell doom for the country, noting that Nigeria was politically and economically backward in all ramifications and that Nigeria masses were dying of hunger due to the high rate of corruption in the land.

Comrade Aremu who doubles as Secretary General of the Joint Action Front (JAF) urged Nigerians to join hands together in changing the political environment of the nation as the only way to guarantee the sustainable economy, stressing that no fewer than 25 percent of the total annual budget of Nigeria fiscal policy were spent on security, which meant that 25 percent of Nigeria budget were used to service economy of another country where the nation bought arms and ammunitions.

Earlier in his welcome address, the founder and first President of the Movement Against Corruption and Injustice (MACI), Barrister Bankole Solomon described President Muhamamdu Buhari as a bundle of disappointment, urging the people of the country to be ready to take their destiny in their hands by fighting against corruption, bad governance and rights violation in all ramifications.

Barrister Solomon who went down memory lane on the formation of the organisation, said that his experience as a trained lawyer in the cause of fighting for the downtrodden masses through offer of free legal service lead to the formation of the organisation (MACI) in year 2011in order to assist more masses like the late human rights lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), stating further that the anti-corruption group began its existence in Lagos State and has spread across 10 states in the country.

•Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman.

Update news