The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has said he would consider giving amnesty to people willing to return the stolen money.
Atiku and his running mate Peter Obi were at a live town hall programme hosted by ace journalist, Kadaria Ahmed. speaking in Abuja.
Atiku said he would allow corrupt public officers to return their loot in return for amnesty and then device ways to prevent future occurrence of corrupt practices.
“If you are to go and be prosecuting these people, you will still be prosecuting them and would not get the money,” he said.
Asked if it was not morrally problematic, considering his own history with corruption allegations, he said:
“Whether it is moral rectitude that you want to achieve or you want to see a fast development of your country,” he added
“Why not? I give you an example of Turkey. Turkey gave amnesty and all the monies taken abroad were brought back and the government said when you bring the money back, you don’t need to pay taxes. Invest in manufacturing, technology and real estate.
“And look at Turkey today. It is like any other European country today.” he added.