Ex-ICPC Boss, Justice Akanbi Cautions FG on Proposed $30m Loan

By BISI ADEDAYO, Ilorin

The pioneer chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Justice Mustapha Akanbi (Rtd), has cautioned the federal government on the proposed $30 million loan, saying he does not believe in borrowing.

Justice Mustapha Akanbi

Akanbi said the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration should prefer better management of economy than borrowing, adding that Nigerians should be informed of facts behind the proposed $30 million loan.

The former President of the Court of Appeal, stated this on Friday in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital during the commissioning of a library complex built by Mustapha Akanbi Foundation (MAF).

He said: “For me, I do not believe in borrowing. I do not borrow money and I do not encourage my children to borrow money. I do not know how they make it. Even now that we are in recession, I have cut down what I give to people.

“Didn’t we even beg that they should write off our debt? I do not know the facts that determine the issue of borrowing. I know if you live according to your means, you will not be in trouble. Buhari should prefer better management of economy than borrowing. “Everybody should prefer better economic management than borrowing.

Proffering solution out of recession, the retired Jurist said: “We should please ask our President, whom we voted for, to really find a way of boosting the economy of the country. A hungry man is an angry man and a bitter man.

“If people are hungry, they will not be happy. So, we should do our best. I know he is trying, they are collecting money from those who have taken bribes and the rest. But let us see the effect in the lives of the people”.

In his remarks, a legal luminary, Mr Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) urged the Federal Government to continue its war against corruption, saying “unless we are able to reduce corruption to its barest minimum, corruption may continue to consume all of us”.

Commenting on the allegations of corruption leveled against some judges in the country, Fagbemi said judges are not different from other members of the public.

However, Fagbemi said: “Because of the special position that judges occupy and because of the functions they perform especially as the third leg in the tripod, government had to be a little careful not to intimidate them or subjugate or cow them.

“Rather, if government has allegation against anyone of them and government believes that the allegation is substantial enough, government should bring it to the fore. Before now, those saddled with the responsibility of disciplining judges has been doing so.