Human Rights lawyer and
activist, Festus Keyamo, has lauded the whistleblowing policy of the Federal
Government as an effective tool in tackling corruption.
Keyamo
told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos, that the
various revelations about money stashed and abandoned in some places were the
positive effect of the whistle blowing.
People
are now ready to blow whistle, the populace now have confidence in assisting
the government to fight corruption through whistleblowing.
The
war against corruption which seemed to be lost is now turning back to a win
situation and revival for the country. The only warning is that we are not yet
there but we have taken a huge step forward.
Whistleblowing
is very good and everybody is now a watchdog. I commend the policy, a situation
whereby everybody can raise alarm and also alert the Economic Financial and
Crime Commission (EFCC).
We
are gradually winning but we are not there yet as there are many things to be
done in this regard,’’ he said.
Keyamo
said that though whistleblowing had recorded some success stories, there must
be deligent investigation before trial in court to forestall loss of corruption
cases.
The
second part of the anti-corruption fight is that we must strengthen the arm of
prosecution if we don’t want corruption cases as an exercise in futility.
The
investigative part of the alleged crime must be diligent so that by the time
people are taken to court, the case is solid enough and it will be easy for the
prosecution to do the job.
In
most cases, by the time the case gets to the prosecutor, the case is hazardly
done. But on the other way round, investigation should have been properly
carried out and prosecutor will do his part.
Investigation
must be thorough before it gets to the prosecutors, it is important that
investigations are well sorted out so that the prosecution becomes easy, he said.
NAN
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