By Ihegazie Chidinma
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Special Duties, Senator Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf, has advocated punishment for corrupt Nigerians’ spouses, children, siblings and parents who are all beneficiaries of corruption proceeds.
Speaking with journalists yesterday in Abuja, the lawmaker representing Taraba Central in the upper legislative chamber, expressed fear for the future of Nigeria going by the rate at which the youth are involved in corrupt practices.
Senator Yusuf said it’s not enough to jail an individual for corruption while his wife, children, siblings and parents are allowed to enjoy the fruits of his corruption.
The lawmaker, who lamented the destruction done by corruption to every aspect of Nigeria, including the National Assembly, civil service and the academia, among others, said that “creating an agency that would be saddled with the responsibilities of confiscating proceeds of corruption is better than making it the duty of the anti-graft agencies.”
He said: “I am really very concerned about the future of the country in the sense that many of us are joking and playing with the extent to which corruption has entered into the fabrics of our polity.
“President Muhammadu Buhari has warned us that if we do not fight corruption, corruption would definitely not only fight us, but kill us a nation.
“Corruption, unfortunately, is in every sector of the economy. Some people say drug peddling is not corruption but it is actually. There is an allegation that one of our topmost police officers in the country, DSP Abba Kyari, who had been arrested, was conniving with drug peddlers.
“Every corrupt person his spouse, children, siblings and parents are all beneficiaries of corruption.
“So, while the law is criminalising an individual for corruption, and he is in jail for 10 years, his wife, children, siblings and parents would all be enjoying the fruits of his corruption.
“It is possible for someone to be corrupt and others may not know, but by and large, every corruption has its own beneficiaries.”
Senator Yusuf maintained that the law should also be extended to all the beneficiaries of corruption, especially the criminal aspect.
“There are countries where corrupt persons are jailed for as much as 100 years. There are nations which has death penalty as punishment for corrupt people,” he said.
