A human rights advocacy group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, has urged the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to demand from President Muhammadu Buhari a comprehensive list of looters of Nigeria’s treasury.
It urged Trump to ban anyone whose name appears on the list from entering America.
SERAP said this in an open letter to Trump ahead of Buhari’s visit to the American President on Monday.
Such a ban, it said, was allowed by the American “Presidential Proclamation of 2004 that allows the US Department of State to deny visas to corrupt foreign officials, their families and friends.”
SERAP’s Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, said Trump would be helping Nigeria’s fight against corruption by invoking his “constitutional powers under the Presidential Proclamation 7750 to instruct the US Secretary of State to temporarily ban those named on the list and their family members from entering the US, pending the final determination of the cases against them.”
The group said, “Applying the Presidential Proclamation 7750 would be very helpful to Nigeria’s efforts to fight grand corruption and end entrenched culture of impunity of perpetrators in the country.
“It would also facilitate equivalent visa bans in other globally desirable locations as well. Limiting the abilities of suspected kleptocrats, their families, and friends to enter the US and enjoy their loot abroad will provide a significant crimp in their lifestyles.
“Imposing targeted anticorruption sanctions against those accused of grand corruption in Nigeria would help to deter corrupt behaviour by high-ranking public officials. Such sanctions would not violate due process and presumption of innocence principles, if the reasons for the sanctions are communicated to those that may be affected.
“Also, the cases of those found not guilty of corruption can be revisited, since the proposed travel suspension would be temporary until the final determination of their cases.
“Our request meets the requirements of Proclamation 7750 because grand corruption in Nigeria, including the alleged stealing of public funds meant to fight Boko Haram, has had serious adverse effects on US foreign assistance goals in the country and undermined the stability of democratic institutions.
“Proactive initiatives to combat global corruption have always been in the best long-term interests of the US. Therefore, your application of targeted anti-corruption sanctions would reaffirm US commitments to the global fight against corruption, help to supplement Nigeria’s criminal justice system, and be entirely consistent with the US obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption.
“Nigeria has also ratified the Convention. SERAP believes that pervasive corruption is at the heart of the insecurity, under-development and extreme poverty in the country.”
