Nigerian politicians are the least corrupt in the country, declares Ali Ndume, Senate Chief Whip.

The lawmaker representing Borno South senatorial district made the declaration in a recent interview with Channels TV while speaking on the bill prescribing death penalty for convicted drug traffickers.

When asked why a similar punishment has not been proposed for political elites who loot resources, Mr Ndume said theirs (embezzlement) is people-driven and it is the least when compared with corruption in other sectors in the country.

The lawmaker, who has been in the national assembly since 2003, explained that where a politician fails to share his loot at the grassroot level, he will not be re-elected for another term.

He said punishment for stealing should be based on how much was stolen and its implementation should start from the banks, promising to support any legislation that will prescribe death penalty for those stealing huge public funds.

“If death penalty is supposed to be included as punishment for corruption, I will support it,” Mr Ndume said.

“We need to start from the financial criminals that are causing dollar to go up, those who are doing money laundering, the banks that are charging people anyhow and not accounting for that, before you come to us politicians.

“If you compare us, the politicians to all the (forms of) corruption, our own is a very small one.

“Our corruption is people-driven. You steal all the money, you go and share it with the people, if you don’t, you are not coming back after four years.”