The Presidential candidate of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on Wednesday said he would consider granting amnesty to corrupt persons willing to surrender their loot.
Abubakar said this while appearing with his running mate, Peter Obi, on a live town hall programme on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).
Abubakar, who is a former vice president of Nigeria, said he would consider drawing a line during which corrupt former public officials would be allowed to return their loot without prosecution. After then, strong policies would be put in place to prevent and fight corruption.
The PDP flag bearer said it would be more prudent to allow looters return their assets to Nigeria tax free and invest them in order to boost the country’s economy.
“If you are to go and be prosecuting these people, you will still be prosecuting them and would not get the money,” Abubakar said.
He suggested that a similar scheme under past administration yielded over $4 billion.
Abubakar’s running mate, Peter Obi, who also participated in the programme, said it is better than to allow looters keep their plunder just by joining another political party – an apparent reference to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which has been repeatedly accused of tolerating corruption in its fold while allegedly haunting members of the opposition.
Obi said the Buhari administration has fought elusive corrupt people at the detriment of the Nigerian economy, which he said has been haemorrhaging jobs since the present government came into office on May 29, 2015.
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