THE senator representing Borno South in the National Assembly, Ali Ndume, has stated that corruption thrives in Nigeria because of people’s involvement, noting that politicians give a portion of their stolen wealth to the people.
Speaking on a television programme on Wednesday, may 15, Ndume, who is the Chief Whip of the Senate, clarified the distinction between corruption involving politicians and individuals, saying that corruption within the Nigerian polity is primarily influenced by individuals and, therefore, suggested that it may not necessitate severe consequences.
The senator acknowledged that politicians engage in corruption, but also distribute resources to the public, noting: “If you compare us, politicians, to all the corruption, it is very small. Our corruption is people-driven.
“If you steal it, you will go and share it with the people. If you don’t, you are not coming back for four years. There is no reason for stealing.
“I have been to the National Assembly, I can’t say because we are on television now and not telling the truth. If the death penalty is supposed to be included in corruption, I will support it, but you don’t go and kill someone that stole N1million or N1billion, no. But someone who steals N1trillion of government money should be killed.
“The death penalty is the best deterrent for those being caught for drugs. If you do drugs, you are killing people. In fact, that means you have destroyed the lives of so many people and killed so many people.”
