Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an open letter to Mr Abukabar Malami, SAN, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, urging him to use his good offices and leadership to: “move swiftly to develop and adopt public registers for corrupt state governors and other high-ranking public officials charged with and convicted of grand corruption since the return of democracy in 1999.
SERAP said: “We urge you to ensure that the public registers contain accurate data and are fully accessible and open to public scrutiny. Aspects such as the scope of the registers, who to include in the registers, and eligibility for removal from the registers, can be discussed in a consultative session with the civil society and other stakeholders.”
In the letter dated 23 August 2019 and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization said: “The proposed registers are far from severe, and would be a proportionate response to the grave crime of grand corruption and impunity of perpetrators and have a deterrent effect. There can be no reasonable expectation of privacy in matters already exposed to public viewing such as prior arrest, charges and conviction records.”
The organization said: “Public registers for high-ranking officials facing corruption charges and those convicted of corruption would be a pivotal moment in the fight against corruption by the government of President Muhammadu Buhari and the damage caused by graft to citizens’ human rights and Nigeria’s democratic process.”
SERAP also said: “The proposed registers for corrupt officials would serve a public interest purpose similar in some respects to the recently disclosed names and details by the United States Department of Justice of 80 defendants, most of whom are Nigerians, that have been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud, money laundering, aggravated identity theft and other charges.”
The letter read in part: “SERAP is concerned that corruption is so pervasive across many states and at several levels of governance and has remained a constant feature of Nigeria’s political scene since 1999, turning public service for many into a kind of criminal enterprise. Grand corruption has continued to fuel political violence, deny millions of Nigerians access to clean water, and even the most basic health and education services, and reinforcing police abuses and other widespread patterns of human rights violations.”
“The lack of public registers containing detailed information about high-ranking public officials charged with and convicted of corruption since 1999 has allowed many politicians—often with impunity–to use apparently illicitly acquired wealth to fund political parties, build corrupt patronage networks, thereby preventing fair access to economic and political power, serving to further the wealth and power of ruling elites, and exacerbating inequality.”
“Registers would help protect the public from corrupt officials and their collaborators and improve the ideal of representative government, as it would assist the citizens to properly exercise their right to participate in their own government.”
“Public registers would improve transparency by making it easier for the public to track the government’s fight against corruption and make the government as open as possible in its anti-corruption efforts. SERAP urges you to push for legislation that will require public officials charged with and convicted of grand corruption at the federal, state and local government levels to put their names in the public registers.”
“Everyone has the right of access to any information held by the state or by any other person, which is reasonably required for the exercise or protection of any rights, including those of citizens’ right to human dignity and freedom from corruption.”
“Registers for corrupt officials would also address the paucity of information about politicians and others
NBA Global Basketball Championship: Okowa hails Merit Atebe for making African team
Delta Governor, Sen. (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa, has congratulated Delta born, Nigerian basketball star, Merit Atebe-Innocent, on her inclusion in the Africa team at the second edition of the NBA Global Basketball Championship in Florida, United States of America.
The Africans participated in the junior world tournament which held between Aug. 6 and Aug. 12, and lost at the semi-finals to the Latin America side.
The governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Olisa Ifeajika, on Saturday in Asaba, commended 13-year-old Atebe-Innocent who hails from Oyede in Isoko North Local Government Area of Delta, for making Nigeria and Africa proud.
He said that the state government would continue to support youths to excel in sports in order to curb crime in the society.
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“On behalf of the government and people of Delta, I congratulate an illustrious daughter of the State, Miss Merit Atebe-Innocent, on her inclusion in the Africa team that participated at the second edition of NBA Global Basketball Championship in Orlando, Florida.
“Her exploits in the tournament justified her inclusion and we are glad that she lived up to expectation by adding seven points and 10 rebounds in the African team’s semi-final 44-36 loss to their Latin American girls.
“As a leading state in sports, it is a thing of joy that a Deltan was among the four selected from Nigeria to represent Africa in the global championship.
“As we build on our Stronger Delta vision, we will continue to encourage our youths to take to sports as a means of livelihood and as a way out of vices, poverty and unemployment,” he said.
Miss Atebe-Innocent plays basketball for St. Jude Secondary School, Yenagoa, Bayelsa, where she is a student.
Atebe-Innocent and Bisola Badmus were the Nigerians in the African girls’ team at the tournament while Hassan Amer and Emmanuel Owonibi made the boys team.
