Stealing is the same as corruption, lawyers to Jonathan

Some lawyers have cautioned President Goodluck Jonathan to stop
differentiating between the acts of stealing and corruption.
The President had during the 8th presidential media chat on Wednesday
maintained that there was a difference between the two acts. This came
several months after he first made a similar statement.
Firstclassnewsline.net
"If somebody is a thief, he is a thief. We should not use the word
'corruption' to cover a case of stealing. Thieves should be called
thieves," the President had said.
However, a lawyer and human rights activist, Prof. Itse Sagay, said in
a telephone conversation withSaturday a source there was no technical
difference between the two acts and that persons involved in either
should be made to face the wrath of the law.
He said, "In a broad legal sense, they are the same. Stealing is
taking what belongs to another person without the consent of the owner
with the intention of keeping it permanently.
"Corruption is using an office to acquire the resources of an
organisation without working for it and without the organisation's
awareness. Looking at it, using an office as a political office holder
to acquire what belongs to the state results to stealing.
"Ultimately, every act of corruption is an act of stealing. There is
no question about it. There is no moral or ethical difference between
them. Both are criminal, immoral and anti-social acts and nobody
should attempt to make one look lighter than the other. People who
commit either should be dealt with seriously."
A civil rights lawyer, Fred Agbaje, said President Jonathan's
differentiation between the acts was clear evidence that the
President's government is corrupt.
He said that the President was only giving two terms for same offence.
He said, "Defence of stealing as different from corruption is
indicative of the fact that President Jonathan's administration is
morally bankrupt.
"What the President has said is an admission of guilt and that his
government is corrupt. It is a distinction without substance. It is
calling one object two different names.
The nomenclature may differ, but the substance of both allegations is the same.
"Which of them is allowed in our law whether he calls them in
different names? They are both punishable under our penal laws.
Stealing is even worse than corruption. Both of them carry a legal
element of deliberately taking what does not belong to someone with
the intent of depriving the taxpayers."
Firstclassnewsline.net