The EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) has just recorded a major victory in their fight against corruption. To their delight, Gabriel Daudu, a former member of the Kogi State House of Assembly, has been convicted of a N 1.4 billion fraud.
Daudu, who was also the chairman of the Ogori/Magongo Local Government Area of the state, was first arraigned in 2010 on 208 counts bordering on money laundering and embezzlement of public funds. There were 47 exhibits and 13 witnesses, thereby proving that the charges against him were not unfounded. He was then found guilty “beyond reasonable doubt” by Justice Inyang Ekwo, at the Federal High Court in Kogi State.
Justice Ekwo declared that he was found guilty on 77 out of the 208 counts and would serve a two year jail term for each, which amounts to a 154-year imprisonment. However, in a turn of events, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, asked another judge, Justice P.M. Ayuba, to take over the case. This switch gave Daudu’s lawyer a chance to appeal for a review of the 154-year jail term. Justice Auta reportedly returned the case to Justice Ekwo. According to the press release by the EFCC, although, Daudu is still guilty of all the 77 counts, he will only be serving a two year jail term, instead of the 154 that was originally stated by the judge.
Is the judiciary corrupt?
Over the years, the appropriate punishment for corrupt officials has been a subject of debate in Nigeria. Knowing fully well that it is quite easy for public officials to wriggle their way out of an extensive jail term, other forms of punishment, including the death sentence, have been suggested by various factions.
However, there’s a weak link, which is Nigeria’s feeble, corrupt laws. The process of trial and prosecution for corrupt officials in Nigeria is usually drawn out and this enables the growth of impunity. If a public official could embezzle N1.4 billion and was sentenced to only two years in jail, whereas a petty thief was sentenced to death by hanging, there is obviously an imbalance in the judiciary.
If the judiciary (which should be the embodiment of law and justice), is corrupt, then the cycle of corruption will continue to roll until Nigeria is swallowed up in its mire.
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