From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives has passed for a second reading a bill seeking to amend the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2024, to provide compulsory counselling and training for convicts of corruption-related offences.
The bill was sponsored by the member representing Lagos Island II Federal Constituency of Lagos State, Kayode Akiolu, at Wednesday’s plenary.
Akiolu, in his lead debate, noted that the proposed compulsory counselling for convicts of corruption-related offences is necessary as there is a nexus between wealth, “mental disposition, and the primitive accumulation of wealth.”
The lawmaker, while soliciting the support of his colleagues for the proposed legislation, stated that the bill, if passed into law, would boost the fight against corruption in the country.
“This Bill seeks to amend section 67 of the Principal Act by expanding it. Section 67 in the Principal Act is the same as section 67 (1) in the amendment bill, which is its substitute. However, the new section 67 has three provisions that are not in the old section 67, and these are found in subsections 2, 3, and 4,” he stated.
Akiolu explained that “by the additional provisions, magistrates and judges shall not only sentence convicts of corruption-related offences to imprisonment and/or fines; they shall also impose on them a mandatory period of counselling and training.
“The counselling and training will be designed and delivered by the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria (ACAN) and, to achieve their desired impact, shall run for a minimum of four weeks.
“The compulsory anti-corruption counselling and training of persons convicted of corruption-related offences are in recognition of the strong connection that exists between mental disposition and the primitive accumulation of wealth. It is similar to what psychologists and psychiatrists call kleptomania, which means an impulse control disorder that results in an irresistible urge to steal.
“The anti-corruption counselling and training will be designed to wean convicts off corrupt tendencies and even turn them into anti-corruption campaigners. This dovetails with the reformative mandate of our criminal justice system, which is not focused on punishment alone. And, as subsection 4 suggests, magistrates and judges may order convicts to pay for their own anti-corruption counselling and training to avoid putting any extra financial burden on the government.”