The former head of Transparency International in Nigeria, Ishola Williams, has called on the president of Nigeria, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, to sack the Attorney General of the Federation, Michael Aondoakaa.
In an interview on the Halliburton bribery scandal and the position of the Attorney General, Mr. Williams queried the decision of the attorney general not to prosecute Halliburton for staining the image of Nigeria rather than aggressively going after the Nigerian bribe takers.
"I have never heard of such a thing before. What sort of man is that? Where did he study law? Even if he doesn't study law, doesn't he have common sense?
"How could he refuse to prosecute those who have been named for taking bribe and he has been travelling abroad saying he wants to prosecute a company. It's a way of making money. It's a way of cheating Nigerians. Can't somebody stop him? It's better for Yar'Adua to remove him. Please NEXT help me beg Yar'Adua to remove him."
Speaking on an effective strategy for eradicating corruption, Mr. Williams said: "Before anybody is allowed to contest for any political office they should be made to declare their assets and the assets should be verified. If he then wins, they should be made to declare their asset every year and verification should be carried out to check."
According to Mr. Williams, criminal prosecution of corrupt officials has yielded little fruit. "It has not deterred people, it has not stopped people. If we put more effort on Code of Conduct Bureau, that is supposed to look at conflict of interest and abuse of office, we will be better off."