President Bola Tinubu has been urged by Senator Ali Ndume to issue an executive decree on unexplained wealth.
Ndume, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) who represents Borno South, made the statement in response to retired Supreme Court Justice Musa Muhammad Dattijo’s assessment of the amount of corruption in the nation’s judicial system.
The legislator claimed he tried to introduce several proposals in that area, even though he acknowledged that there already laws in the UK and other countries that address similar problems.
“I have tried several times but you know, there were excuses here and there,” he said on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics. “I think the best way to get this across is when the bill comes from the executive or in the interim, the current president should sign an executive bill on unexplained wealth.”
According to Ndume, the level of unexplained wealth in the country especially among politicians and civil servants requires some laws to combat.
“I know of civil servants that live in houses that not only their income, their salaries, or their life pension – assuming they would live in this world for 90 years or 100 years – cannot buy.” Senator Ndume added.
“The same thing with some of our politicians especially the politically exposed persons like ministers, you find as you rightly said, some of them come to the National Assembly, and suddenly [there is so much money].”
Reiterating that politicians are public servants, he called on the public to hold them accountable.
“Well, I will partially accept what you said,” Ndume said when asked if the lawmakers have failed to pass bills to curb the trend of unexplained wealth in the country.
“The public are those that are supposed to put us on our toes to represent them and account for our actions,” the senator added.