Prosecuting Corruption and the Application of Plea Bargaining in Nigeria: A Critique

This study focused on the incidence and the prosecution of corruption in the Nigerian society with specific emphasis on plea bargaining which has been applied to prosecute some politicians (Politically Exposed Persons) and other people in the upper echelons of the Nigerian society, and that is gradually becoming widespread in criminal prosecution in Nigeria. The origin and merits of plea bargaining, as its protagonists argued, were analysed. The central focus here is a critique of corruption prosecution through plea bargain based on moral and utilitist principles. The study precisely advocated for outright dropping of the plea bargain in corruption prosecution in Nigeria because of its tendency to deepen and extenuate, rather than making mild and abating corruption in Nigeria. Given the patron-client character of power relation in the Nigerian state, the stipulations of anti-graft laws should be strictly followed in order not to make corruption prosecution constitute another source or facilitator of corruption in Nigeria.