A constitutional lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, has called for an aggressive fight against political corruption perpetrated by the nation’s elites.

Mr Ozekhome made the call on Wednesday in a paper he presented at the Midwest Achievers Awards in Benin, titled ‘Has democracy led to good governance in Nigeria?’

The human rights activist said political corruption undermined the nation’s democratic principles.

“The ugly trend should be aggressively addressed with the same seriousness and penalty as in financial crimes and other forms of corruption.

“Political corruption is often overlooked because it involves the elites, who have political power,” Mr Ozekhome said.

He noted that such corruption manifested mostly in elections into various political positions in the country.

“Nigeria’s election history, for instance, is rife with stories of manipulation and voter exploitation by the political class. Post-election adjudication should not only focus on determining winners of elections.

“Political elites and their agents, who violate electoral rules, should be sanctioned with fines and imprisonment,” he said.

The 2023 elections, including the presidential poll, were riddled with allegations of electoral fraud.

Mr Ozekhome noted that free and fair elections were the foundation of democratic legitimacy, transparency, and accountability.

“We should consistently safeguard these tenets to ensure leaders are held accountable to the people,” he noted.

Mr Ozekhome advocated for a harmonised fight against corruption, which should be sustained through oversight from anti-corruption agencies.

“There should be institutionalisation of development-focused principles to foster change in Nigeria and Africa,” Mr Ozekhome said.

(NAN)