The House of Representatives has passed, through a second reading, a bill for an act to amend the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 to provide for compulsory counselling and training for convicts of corruption-related offences.
The proposed piece of legislation, which was read the second time in the House at plenary yesterday, was sponsored by Hon. Akiolu Moshood Kayode (APC, Lagos).
This bill seeks to amend section 67 of the Principal Act by expanding it with three additional provisions. These stipulate that magistrates and judges shall not only sentence convicts of corruption-related offences to imprisonment and/or fines but also impose on them a mandatory period of counselling and training.
Leading the debate on the general principles of the bill, Hon. Kayode said the counselling and training will be designed and delivered by the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria (ACAN) and shall run for a minimum of four weeks to achieve their desired impact.
He said the compulsory anti-corruption counselling and training of persons convicted of corruption-related offences recognises the strong connection 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.
“As subsection 4 suggests, magistrates and judges may order convicts to pay for their anti-corruption counselling and training to avoid putting any extra financial burden on the government. The government, therefore, stands to lose nothing but to gain everything.
“In fact, if passed, this bill will boost the fight against corruption. I therefore urge you to support it for the benefit of our country, which continues to reel daily from the effects of corruption,” the lawmaker argued.