This article was originally published as: Plea Bargain Law and the Fight Against Corruption in Nigeria: Between Punishment and Protection
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Abstract
Corruption is endemic and it occurred virtually in all the facets of Nigerian life. Consequently, the inability of the plea bargain law to fight corruption holistically in order to enforce deterrence had resulted in increased corrupt cases as corrupt officials escaped commensurate punishment for their offences. It is against this backdrop that the paper examined the effectiveness of the plea bargain law in the fight against corruption in Nigeria. The study adopted a qualitative descriptive research design to present its collated data. Unlike previous studies, the study argued that plea bargain law has become a shield for corrupt public officials and that the fight against corruption in Nigeria was selective as many alleged officials were exonerated. The study thus recommended that the 1999 Federal Republic of Nigeria Constitution be amended as soon as possible to remove the clause that supported plea bargaining in order to allow for harsher and more stringent punishment laws. It also suggested that the anti-corruption agencies be given the authority to be truly independent in order to resist selective arrest and prosecution of corrupt officials.
Authors
- Olowu Olagunju Folorunso Folorunso (University of Abuja)
Keywords
Plea, bargain, law, Nigeria, corruption
References
References not available for this article.
