Democracy, plea bargaining and the politics of anti-corruption campaign in Nigeria (1999-2008)

Abstract

This article examines the genuineness of the campaign against corruption in Nigeria by the democratic regime inaugurated in 1999. It underscores the rationale behind the introduction of plea bargaining as a condition for mitigation of criminal offense in Nigeria. The paper argues that the way and manner by which this element entered the country's legal document was itself criminal in nature and lack any known framework when compared to the operation of the concept in other countries. The paper concludes that the country cannot wage any serious war against corruption with plea bargaining in force. It explains that Nigeria does not need the notion of plea bargaining at this particular stage of the campaign against corruption as there is the need to attain some level of acceptable cleansing before plea bargaining can be a subject in the criminal or legal book of the country.