Lawyers have warned President Goodluck Jonathan over continually saying that stealing is not corruption.Recall that the president for the 8th time on Wednesday during the Presidential Media Chat tried separating the act of stealing from that of corruption.
“If somebody is a thief, he is a thief. We should not use the word ‘corruption’ to cover a case of stealing. Thieves should be called thieves,” the president had said.
However, Professor Itse Sagay, who is a lawyer and human rights activist, has taken up the issue. In a telephone conversation with Punch, Sagay said there was no technical difference between the two acts, and that people involved in either should be made to face the wrath of the law.
He said, “In a broad legal sense, they are the same. Stealing is taking what belongs to another person without the consent of the owner with the intention of keeping it permanently.
“Corruption is using an office to acquire the resources of an organisation without working for it and without the organisation’s awareness. Looking at it, using an office as a political office holder to acquire what belongs to the state results to stealing.
“Ultimately, every act of corruption is an act of stealing. There is no question about it. There is no moral or ethical difference between them. Both are criminal, immoral and anti-social acts and nobody should attempt to make one look lighter than the other. People who commit either should be dealt with seriously.”
Another civil rights lawyer, Fred Agbaje, said President Jonathan’s differentiation between the acts was clear evidence that the president’s government is corrupt. Fred Agbaje said this is because those two words are same offence in different letters.
He said: “Defence of stealing as different from corruption is indicative of the fact that President Jonathan’s administration is morally bankrupt.
“What the President has said is an admission of guilt and that his government is corrupt. It is a distinction without substance. It is calling one object two different names.
The nomenclature may differ, but the substance of both allegations is the same.
“Which of them is allowed in our law whether he calls them in different names? They are both punishable under our penal laws. Stealing is even worse than corruption. Both of them carry a legal element of deliberately taking what does not belong to someone with the intent of depriving the taxpayers.”
The president’s ‘stealing is not corruption’ statement prompted various reactions from many people when he first made it. At the Presidential Media Chat yesterday, February 11, Jonathan was again asked to give more clarification on
“If somebody is a thief, he is a thief. We should not use the word ‘corruption’ to cover a case of stealing. Thieves should be called thieves,” the president had said.
However, Professor Itse Sagay, who is a lawyer and human rights activist, has taken up the issue. In a telephone conversation with Punch, Sagay said there was no technical difference between the two acts, and that people involved in either should be made to face the wrath of the law.
He said, “In a broad legal sense, they are the same. Stealing is taking what belongs to another person without the consent of the owner with the intention of keeping it permanently.
“Corruption is using an office to acquire the resources of an organisation without working for it and without the organisation’s awareness. Looking at it, using an office as a political office holder to acquire what belongs to the state results to stealing.
“Ultimately, every act of corruption is an act of stealing. There is no question about it. There is no moral or ethical difference between them. Both are criminal, immoral and anti-social acts and nobody should attempt to make one look lighter than the other. People who commit either should be dealt with seriously.”
“What the President has said is an admission of guilt and that his government is corrupt. It is a distinction without substance. It is calling one object two different names.
The nomenclature may differ, but the substance of both allegations is the same.
“Which of them is allowed in our law whether he calls them in different names? They are both punishable under our penal laws. Stealing is even worse than corruption. Both of them carry a legal element of deliberately taking what does not belong to someone with the intent of depriving the taxpayers.”
The president’s ‘stealing is not corruption’ statement prompted various reactions from many people when he first made it. At the Presidential Media Chat yesterday, February 11, Jonathan was again asked to give more clarification on
what he meant by his famous phrase, but this time the president’s response triggered the displeasure of the All Progressives Congress vice-presidential candidate, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.
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