Some delegates at the National Conference have intensified their lobby for death sentence for corrupt former and present governors to be made part of the final recommendations that will be submitted at the end of the conference.

Already, the delegates have initiated moves to persuade fellow delegates at the committee levels to consider making death sentence a constitutional matter so as to deter government officials and others who may want to indulge in corrupt practices.

The delegates, who cut across both the military and civilian conferees, have insisted that unless public officers are shot or hanged the ‘China way’, corruption, which they argued has overwhelmed every segments of the nation’s life, would remain unabated to detrimental of the country’s aspiration for development.

During the week when delegates made contributions to President Goodluck Jonathan’s inaugural speech of March 17, several canvassed the wisdom of capital punishment to curb the growing of menace of corruption in public institutions, while some directly pointed accusing fingers at ex-governors, many of whom are delegates to the conference.

Retired Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Ejiga had said during his contributions: “We must hang corrupt ex- and present governors. Yesterday, we learnt that $450bn has been stolen from Nigeria. Imagine what half of that will do! It will completely overhaul the economy, lead to industrialisation and eliminate insecurity occasioned by want.

“Yes, we must execute corrupt officials, particularly the present and ex-governors, who have been found wanting. They deserve execution because they have done terrible harm to the people, their nation and to posterity. They have stolen what belongs to the larger society.”

Continuing, Ejiga said: “If armed robbers are executed for stealing from someone, and often far less sums, why won’t the governors be executed? Yes, they were entrusted with public coffers but instead of keeping watch over the till for the generality of the people, they looted lavishly to the utter detriment of their society.

“Imagine governors ruling for four and eight years suddenly coming into stupendous wealth just for being governors, yet the states that they presided over swim in poverty. If the state kills mere armed robbers, why not kill executive robbers in government.

“If you killed the governors, civil servants who award frivolous contracts, especially at the end of the budget year, will learn hard lesson. It will deter them just as it has deterred crooks and hard-line thieves in China and the society is the better for it.”

Ejiga was supported by former military administrator of Kaduna State, retired Maj. Gen. Tanko Ayuba, who stated: “If that will ensure a corruption-free future for Nigeria, why not? Corruption is evil, it is devilish. Corruption is virtually in every endeavour in Nigeria. It is overwhelming.

“So, if executing former governors as someone suggested, will put a stop to the wanton corruption in the fabric of the Nigerian society, why not? I share the view that they be executed.” He stressed that in the military “corruption is severely punished.”

Similarly, another delegate and representative of the transport union, Alhaji Musa Isewele Shehu, had during his comments on the president’s speech adduced reasons why the execution of former and present governors would be logical.

His words: “They strangulate the local government councils in their states, which has led to stagnation, gross under-development unemployment with the resultant surfeit of youth restiveness, insurgency, militancy and moral depravity in the society.

“They should be hanged because the empty their states treasuries for themselves and build hotels in Dubai, own estates in choicest cities in the world while their people live in abject poverty. Even senior civil servants, who refused to leave the service even when they have reached the retirement age, should be executed to cleanse the system of corruptive influences.”

Some delegates, among them the immediate past Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqqayatu Ahmed Rufai, however, opted for the imprisonment of corrupt public officials. According to Prof. Rufai, “Somebody mentioned that we may have to lock some corrupt people up. I support that too. Lock them up for a while and let us see if they can have a change of mind.”

But some delegates, such as former Senate President Adolphus Wabara, outrightly dismissed the call for death sentence for corrupt officials.

Wabara, who was removed from the Senate leadership over allegations of fraud, described it as barbaric. “I think that was a very careless remark by one of our distinguished delegates. We are not in Ghana where you execute your past leaders. We cannot boldly execute the same policy here in Nigeria,” he said.

A competent source at the Conference yesterday disclosed that some civil society groups, youth organisations and other like minds are collaborating to canvass for inclusion of harsh punitive measures to discourage corruption in public.

•Adapted from a report in Peoples Daily Weekend. Photo shows the National Conference in session.