Obasanjo Calls for Jail Time for Corrupt Nigerian Politicians

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has spoken out against corruption in Nigeria’s government, advocating for imprisonment of those involved. “If you examine the people in government today at both executive and legislative levels, some of them should be permanently behind bars for their past misdemeanours and criminal misconduct,” he stated during a virtual memorial lecture for cleric Denis Slattery .

Obasanjo, Nigeria’s first democratically elected Head of State from 1999 to 2007, expressed shock at the level of corruption among election officials and the impunity with which they operate. He recalled a meeting where a politician lied and, when confronted, brushed it off as “just politics.” Obasanjo emphasized that this attitude suggests politics has no room for morality or positive attributes .

The former president stressed that Nigeria needs transformational leaders, not transactional ones, and that truth, honesty, and integrity are essential. “We need hope instead of despair, production instead of deduction, inclusion instead of exclusion and marginalisation,” he said .

This is not the first time Obasanjo has called for action against corrupt politicians. Last month, he told six members of the House of Representatives that many government officials should be behind bars. “The real issue is ourselves… the character of people in government must change,” he stated.