Two senior lawyers, Messrs Mike Ozekhome and Jibrin Okutepa, and have faulted the presidential pardon granted to the former governors of Plateau and Taraba states, Mr. Joshua Dariye and Rev Jolly Nyame who were serving different jail terms upon conviction of corruption charges.
Also faulting the government’s action is the governor of Rivers State, Mr. Nyesom Wike.
Recall that the federal government had on April 14, 2023 granted state pardon to the former governor of Plateau State, Mr. Joshua Dariye and his Taraba State counterpart, Rev Jolly Nyame who were convicted and jailed for corruption.
The council, which met for the fourth time under President Muhammadu Buhari, took the decision in exercise of its prerogative of mercy for convicts.
The attorney general of the federation and minister of justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami who disclosed this after the national council of state meeting in Abuja on….said the council approved 159 of 162 applications presented for consideration.
Among the other beneficiaries were a former military general and minister under the Sani Abacha regime, Tajudeen Olanrewaju, an army lieutenant colonel, Akiyode, who was an aide of former deputy to General Abacha, Oladipo Diya; and all the junior officers jailed over the 1990 abortive Gideon Orkar coup.
Dariye and Nyame were jailed for stealing N1.16 billion and N1.6 billion respectively.
However, speaking in separate interviews, the lawyers said President Muhammadu Buhari was paying lip service to the fight against corruption despite has pronouncements that corruption is an anathema
Ozekhome, while faulting the action of the president queried the basis for granting the pardon when the charge of corruption upon which they were convicted was not only a bane in the country but “struts around imperiously like a peacock”.
“By granting pardon to these treasury looters, Buhari is reviving, nurturing and watering corruption with state powers”.
In a statement entitled ‘legal and moral implications of granting pardon to ex-convicts and serving prisoners’ Ozekhome said the decision to free the two governors who were still serving their jail terms was not in the interest of the people.
He said the government’s action was capable of dampening the confidence of the citizenry in the national moral fabric, and in the fight against corruption.
“So, when the council of state recently authorized the pardon of 159 convicts, including Senator Joshua Dariye of Plateau State and ex-Governor Jolly Nyame of Taraba State, who were both imprisoned for stealing N1.16 billion and N1.6 billion respectively, many Nigerians justifiably showed anger, because these two political leaders had been duly tried and convicted for stealing money belonging to their respective states”, he said.
He maintained that the purpose of criminal prosecution is to secure justice, not only for the accused, but also for the victims of crimes and the state; and to some extent get reparation and restitution for the victims, while deterring others from going the same route.
“Where lies the justice for the impoverished people of Plateau and Taraba states who will now watch their tormentors stroll out with red carpet treatment?
“The government budgets huge sums of money for the prosecution of such accused persons from the tax players’ sweat; and if after the rigorous period of trial and subsequent conviction, the guilty are simply let off the hook in such a brazen manner, the little remaining lean hope the citizens have in the system is further diminished”, he added.
While stating that both the president and the Council of State goofed and abused their undoubted constitutional powers and privileges, Ozekhome explained that a constitutional issue as volatile as this could have been better managed if the minders of the president had told him the embarrassment this could cause the government in the estimation of the comity of nations.
“This brazen abuse of power will definitely ricochet and erode the confidence of our international partners in the fight against corruption. It will also dampen the morale of the agencies fighting corruption, such as EFCC, the Nigeria Police Force, and the ICPC, amongst others.
“This singular ill-advised act of abuse of power will also definitely embolden political thieves and unrepentant pilferers of our national commonwealth. It shows that once you are a friend of the President or a member of his political party, or his acolyte and supporter, you can get away with any crime. In other words, in Nigeria, corruption surely pays!
Similarly, Okutepa who spoke in an interview on Channels TV said, “we are all aware of the reasons they were arraigned and found guilty by the Supreme Court. They are politically exposed people in our society.
“One of the greatest things that has retarded the growth of Nigeria today is corruption. It is the best enterprise in Nigeria today. So, when I heard that Buhari agreed to pardon the ex-governors, I weep for this country. The reason is that the mantra for which this person came to power is that of corruption.
“The duty of the Nigerian government is to fight and eradicate corruption. Corruption has become so cancerous and all hands must be on deck to fight it. I am so upset by the decision because the ex-governor of Plateau State has his appeal dismissed in March 2021 by the Supreme Court.
“In this country, the executive had on a series of occasions say that one of the things affecting against corruption fight is the judiciary, so if the judiciary, therefore, enforces the provisions of the law and sends the ex-governors to prison, why does the executive sabotage its own law.”
For his part, the governor of Rivers State, Mr. Nyesom Wike described as the presidential pardon as “unfortunate and unfair.”
Wike made his comment while addressing newsmen after a meeting with PDP delegates at the party secretariat in Minna, Niger State, saying the decision will only draw the country back as far as fighting corruption is concerned.
He said the pardon was a demonstration the corruption fight of the federal government was shrouded in despicable politics that had ridiculed Nigeria in the international community.
The governor spoke when he visited Niger State as part of his ongoing consultations with delegates of the Peoples Democratic party (PDP), ahead of the party’s presidential primaries.
He said it is difficult to explain the rationale of the Federal Government in handpicking supposed corrupt persons, make them go through court processes up to Supreme Court and turned around to release them in the guise of a pardon.
Wike, in a statement by his Special Assistant, Media, recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari promised to fight corruption headlong.
He said Buhari’s pattern was tilted against persons opposed to his policies and programmes.
“To tell you the truth, this APC government has deceived us a lot. This is a government that said they’re fighting corruption, they handpick people and jail them after they have gone through all court processes up to Supreme Court.
“Then they turned around to release from prison those people that they said are corrupt. What country and what a government?
“Doing it for political reasons because the elections are coming and they want (Joshua) Dariye to help their party in Plateau State. They want (Jolly) Nyame to help them in Taraba State. Why don’t they give pardon to James Ibori for example
“Look at how they have made the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to prosecute and spend so much money. Then at the end of the day you played politics with it. How will the international community look at us? It’s so shameful,” he added.
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