NBA, Sagay bemoan Nigeria's corruption rating

Mr. Sagay said former governors need to be brought to book.

A constitutional lawyer and Law Professor, Itse Sagay, on Thursday said that drastic steps must be taken to check the spate of corruption in the country.

Mr. Sagay spoke in Lagos against the backdrop of Nigeria’s rating as the 35th most corrupt country in the 2012 corruption perception index released by global corruption watchdog, Transparency International.

“From what we read from the newspapers every day, our people seem to be endlessly enmeshed in corruption at every level and every sector,” the don said in an interview.

He said that lack of political will to prosecute high profile corruption cases was responsible for the present situation of Nigeria.

“Presently, people are committing very grave acts of corruption and nothing is happening to them. Some of the governors who finished their tenures in 2007, and were accused of corruption, are still roaming about freely.

“Until something drastic happens to a few of them, this ugly trend will continue,” Mr. Sagay said.

Also reacting, the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ikeja branch, Onyekachi Ubani, said the Nigerian government must redouble its efforts in the fight against corruption.

“We don’t even need outsiders to tell us about the high level of corruption in Nigeria because it has brought the country to its knees.

“Our debt profile is rising astronomically and there is no infrastructure or development on ground to justify our accumulation of such debts,” he said.

According to him, corruption has deprived majority of Nigerians the benefits of democracy.

Mr. Ubani said Nigerian leaders should re- dedicate themselves to service, instead of the ongoing rush to accumulate wealth at the expense of the people.