The presidential candidate of the
Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has said if elected into
office, his government will consider amnesty for looters.
He said such a method would be more productive in recovering looted funds.
Such recovered funds, he said, would be invested in the country to create jobs, improve insecurity and grow the economy.
He spoke on Wednesday during a town hall meeting tagged “The Candidates.”
Atiku featured alongside his running mate, Peter Obi.
The former Vice President said adopting
amnesty for looters had been helping in Turkey, adding that such a
method is better than for alleged corrupt people joining a ruling party
and be shielded from prosecution.
He said, “Why not? I give you an example of Turkey. Turkey gave amnesty and all the money taken abroad were brought back.
“The government said when you bring the
money back, you don’t need to pay taxes; invest in manufacturing,
technology and real estate.
“And look at Turkey today, it is like any other European country.
“There was a panel set up when we came
up (during the administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo). With that
method, we recovered over $4bn.
“If we are to go into prosecuting these
people, we would have been prosecuting them by now and that money would
have been denied the country.”
Describing election rigging as a form of
corruption, the presidential candidate promised to set up an electoral
fraud commission to handle such cases.
He said automation in the public sector
would reduce corruption as technology would be used than personal
contacts which he said could provide an avenue for corruption.
He added, “On the issue of corruption,
we can use punitive and preventive measures. We should be able to
introduce technology in the private and public sectors so that
relationship between government and members of the public is not
personal.”
He also called for expeditious dispensation of justice, regretting that there is delay in justice delivery in the country.
He said, “There is too much delay in the
judicial system. If we can shorten the delay so that justice can be
done quickly, the better.
“The National Assembly and the judiciary should deliberate on the ways out.”
Atiku also said he was the most experienced among the nation’s presidential candidates.
He, however, promised to accept defeat if he lost at the February 16 election provided the election was adjudged free and fair.
He lamented that the North-East,
North-West and North-Central regions were facing insurgency while it was
only the North-East that had Boko Haram challenge when the Muhammadu
Buhari led-All Progressives Congress government came into power.
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