Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, on Wednesday, berated the Nigerian government for its inefficiency in the fight against corruption in the country.
Soyinka’s verdict was that many persons ought to be in jail if the system worked.
He spoke in an interview on an African Independent Television programme, “Kakaaki”.
According to him, the system had been so corrupted that “cases were stretched out into silence by all kinds of technicalities.”
“There are so many people who should be in prison if this government had not run out of steam, and so the system is being manipulated.
“There are cases where the prosecution had reached the level where evidence had been given on governors who had been stealing and depositing in bits and pieces so as not to flout a certain regulation.
“I mean cases have been taken to that level and suddenly, silence.
“The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which I backed solidly ever since the days of (Nuhu) Ribadu, in all kinds of ways; we no longer can distinguish from right and left.”
He said that NASS had a lot of work to do in its relationship with the Presidentnwhen asked to comment on whether or not the federal legislature was piling enough pressure on the president.
However, Soyinka said the desire of some lawmakers for committee positions “where I think all the goodies are shared” had made them to compromise.
He added, “It is the responsibility of the constituency to remind them of these derelictions; these failures to come up to scratch as expected when they come round next for elections.” (AIT/TNG)
