Former Chairman of the Special Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, has said that some people who served under President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration are supposed to be in jail.
But Obono-Obla said as a lawyer of many years standing, it may be wrong for him to make such a conclusion because mere allegations do not make one guilty until proven by a competent court of jurisdiction.
Reacting to the recent comment by former President Obasanjo that some persons occupying positions in government should be in jail, Obono-Obla said:
“So many people in Obasanjo’s eight-year presidency equally should have been in jail. However, as a lawyer, I can not subscribe to such fallacious arguments no matter how attractive it sound. “
The human rights activist contended that no matter how attractive suspicion is, it does not make someone guilty, “that is a fundamental principle of law.
“Having said that, I think it is in the realm of speculation or rumor-mongering to suggest so, and so a person ought to be in jail.
“Was the allegation against such a person investigated? Was a prima facie case established against the person?
Was he convicted before a court of competent jurisdiction?”, he rhetorically asked.
VANGUARD.
