Temper justice with mercy: A public perception of the use of plea bargain in the fight against corruption in Nigeria

• Published date: 01 May 2021
• Author: Ernest T. Aniche,Ikenna M. Alumona,Ugochukwu S. Obiwulu
• Date: 01 May 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2212

ACADEMIC PAPER

Temper justice with mercy: A public perception of the use of

plea bargain in the fight against corruption in Nigeria

Ernest T. Aniche

1

| Ikenna M. Alumona

2

| Ugochukwu S. Obiwulu

3

1

Department of Political Science, Federal

University Otuoke (FUO), Otuoke, Nigeria

2

Department of Political Science,

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University

(COOU), Uli, Nigeria

3

Department of Political Science, Nnamdi

Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, Nigeria

Correspondence

Department of Political Science, Federal

University Otuoke (FUO), Otuoke, Nigeria.

Email: anicheet@fuotuoke.edu.ng

Plea bargain has been adopted as a strategy of fighting corruption in Nigeria. The

objective of this study is to determine if the misuse of plea bargain has eroded public

confidence in the fight against corruption in Nigeria. To achieve this, the study essen-

tially adopts mixed methods or a combination of quantitative and qualitative

methods. Thus, the study relies on both primary and secondary sources of data such

as questionnaire and documentary studies, respectively. The study concludes that

the misapplication of plea bargain has eroded public confidence in the fight against

corruption in Nigeria. Thus, the study recommends the amendment of the Economic

and Financial Crimes Commission Act pertaining to the use of plea bargain in order

to avert arbitrariness and abuse as well as ensure transparency in the application of

plea bargain.

1|INTRODUCTION

Corruption is a disease of the polity, which is not just endemic in

Nigeria but also pandemic and thus a global phenomenon that

harasses the collective conscience of humanity. Corruption predated

Nigeria. It is perhaps as old as human society. It is not peculiar to

Nigeria because it is everywhere. It is a matter of degree of perception

or level of public confidence. Nigeria is thus perceived as one of the

most corrupt countries in the world in terms of Corruption Perception

Index (CPI), which in 2019 ranked 146 with a score of 26. Corruption

has permeated all segments of Nigerian society. It is systemic. No

wonder, Nigeria has been aptly described as “fantastically corrupt.”

1

Given this level of corruption and associated cost and delay in

prosecuting corruption cases, the Economic and Financial Crimes

Commission (EFCC) adopted plea bargain as a strategy of fighting cor-

ruption in Nigeria. This approach involves out of the court negotiation

and settlement. Although, plea bargain emerged in Europe in the early

19th century and later in United States of America, it has never been

part of the Nigerian legal system until recently (Alubo, 2012). The Sec-

tion 14 (2) of the EFCC Act of 2004 unequivocally gives the anti-

corruption agency the power to apply the plea bargain principle. The

Section states inter alia, “Commission may compound any offence

punishable under the Act by accepting such sums of money as it

deems fit exceeding the maximum amount to which that person

would have been liable if he had been convicted of that offence.”This

Section of the EFCC's Act tacitly empowers it to entertain plea bar-

gain from an offender who agrees to give up money embezzled by

him for a lighter sentence. The offences referred to under this provi-

sion are those punishable under the EFCC Act and the Section does

not therefore apply to general criminal trials in Nigeria

(Obiwulu, 2015). Subsection 3 further provides, “All moneys received

by the Commission…shall be paid into the Consolidated Revenue

Fund of the Federation.”

The underlying idea of plea bargain is to temper justice with

mercy by providing safe-landing for high-profile members of the busi-

ness and political class who use their vantage positions to swindle the

country. Therefore, the four major interrelated processes of plea bar-

gain required for the suspects to avoid protracted prosecution

through out of the court negotiation and settlement include (a) to

enter into negotiation with the anticorruption agency, (b) to return

the loot, (c) to plead for mercy or forgiveness, and (d) to be granted

pardon by anticorruption agencies while warning them to go home

and sin no more or to be given mitigated and lenient sentence by the

court (Adeleke, 2012; Alschuler, 1969; Alubo, 2009; Nwaze, 2012;

Tarhule, 2014).

However, in order to achieve the objective of this article, it is

divided into seven parts. The first part introduces this article and pro-

vides the background. The second part identifies the problem by

locating the lacuna in the literature. The third part describes and

applies the theoretical framework for this article known as neo-

Received: 19 February 2020 Revised: 8 May 2020 Accepted: 29 May 2020

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2212

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https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2212