FG should prosecute Adeosun to prove integrity, says poll

[FILE PHOTO] Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun. PHOTO: CNBC Africa

Days after Kemi Adeosun resigned as Nigeria’s finance minister over the forgery of her National Youth Service Youth Corps exemption certificate, a majority of respondents to a recent poll wanted the Nigerian government to prove it is serious about its anti-corruption drive by prosecuting the former minister.

In her resignation letter, Adeosun claimed she was misled by her “trusted associates” and claimed that she did not know the certificate was forged until a Premium Times publication revealed that.

Adeosun has since left for the United where she was born and grew up.

Although the Nigerian Government since then had not said anything on the matter, the poll shows that Nigerians had ideas on what decision that ought to be taken for and against the former minister.

The poll conducted on The Guardian’s website, Twitter and Facebook pages had a total of 1,647 respondents.

63% majority of the respondents on Facebook wanted the Buhari-led administration to demonstrate the sincerity of its anti-graft war and prosecute the former minister, but 38% disagreed with that stance.

A similar sentiment was expressed by the respondents on the website and Twitter as 58% voted for Adeosun to be prosecuted, while 42% on each of the two platforms did not see the need for prosecution.

In all, 60 per cent of the respondents wanted the government to prove its integrity in the face of compromise in the national system, but the remaining 40% believed the matter is history and should be treated as one.