THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA: A FOCUS ON VICTIMS AND THEIR RESTITUTIONARY RIGHTS

Abstract

One of the campaign promises of the Buhari regime is to fight corruption in all facet of the country. So far, all the anti-corruption  agencies  have  been  working  hard  to  accomplish  this  aim.  Chief  among  them  is  the  Economic  and Financial  Crimes  Commission  (EFCC)  and  the  Independent  Corrupt  Practices  Commission  (ICPC).  This  article tries to x-ray briefly some of the requirements of the Acts establishing these agencies. The Acts provide for forfeiture and recovery of stolen resources but no mention of the restitution of the victims of corruption. In all, the pattern of fighting  corruptionin  Nigeria  is  focused  on  the  offenders,  and  recovered  loots  are  turned  over  to  the  federal government.  Not  much  is  provided  on  the  restitution  of  victims  who  own  the  stolen  or  recovered  money  or  whose money was used to purchase recovered properties. And this is coming in an era when there are calls for a shift from criminal justice to victim justice. The deepest desire of any victim, no doubt, is to be returned back to what he used to be or would have been if that wrong was not done him. This paper tries to glance into the possibility of restitution for  victims  of  corruption  in  Nigeria.  It  concluded  that  justice  is  not  done  where  the  offender  is  punished  but  the victim  is  not  restituted  or  restored.  In  this  light,  it  recommended  amongst  other  things  that  where  the  Acts establishing  the  anti-corruption  agencies  in  Nigeria  did  not  specifically  consider  restitution  of  victims,  the  courts, through judicial activism should insist on the restitutionary rights of the victims of corruption in Nigeria.