It’s misplaced, tainted with political, religious colourations – Insiders
They were brought out of prison to assist APC – PDP chieftains, activists
Amnesty’ll embolden corrupt politicians, make mockery of judiciary’
BY AKINWALE ABOLUWADE,TIMOTHY AGBOR, BENEDICT NWACHUKWU, MAYOWA SAMUEL AND BRIGHT JACOB
Chieftains of the People’s Democratic Party have disclosed that the pardon granted to jailed ex-governors Jolly Nyame and Joshua Dariye by President Muhammadu Buhari and the Council of State was connected with the forthcoming general elections in the country.
According to the politicians who spoke exclusively with The Point, both former governors were granted amnesty to work for the ruling All Progressives Congress in their respective states during the forthcoming polls.
The immediate past chairman of the Osun State chapter of PDP, Sunday Bisi, said politicians would be emboldened to loot public treasury because they know that someone would free them after their acts.
Noting that the pardon granted to the convicted ex-governors would demoralize the anti-graft agencies in their fights against corruption, Bisi argued that APC was fast losing ground and needed more hands to win at all cost at the coming polls.
He said, “I think this idea of punishment is just to correct them. That is why our prisons have been changed to correctional centres. If anybody is serving a jail term and probably shows remorse and has learnt lessons, I think the government can pardon such a fellow. But the case of Jolly Nyame and Joshua Dariye who are notable APC leaders and the election is very close. That’s why you see people raising eyebrows because definitely, as politicians, we will take it that they want them to come out of the prisons and help them win elections in their respective states since the general elections are around the corner.
“It’s obvious that in Plateau State, APC is fast losing ground there and they will need the likes of Dariye to come and add value to them (APC) there. The same thing is happening in Taraba where Jolly Nyame comes from.
“So, the timing is wrong. I am not saying that offenders should die inside prison but at the same time, they could have considered the timing. That’s exactly what is wrong because we are gradually moving towards election and it shouldn’t be now. If Mr. President and the Council of State had done this thing three years ago, one wouldn’t read any meaning to it, but just a few months to the election, people would think that their release was political. More so, this APC government is losing popularity daily.
“It will definitely affect the morale of anti-graft agencies and looking at the kind of amnesty granted these ex-governors; there are lesser thieves who have been convicted and spent years in prison, the government should look into them and not these eyebrow political robbers.
“It’s obvious that in Plateau State, APC is fast losing ground there and they will need the likes of Dariye to come and add value to them (APC) there. The same thing is happening in Taraba where Jolly Nyame comes from
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“If politicians now know that after spending one year in prison, they would be released, they will just continue to milk the state treasury dry. So, it will affect corruption and EFCC, ICPC and the Police will see that they have laboured in vain,” he said.
Also speaking, another chieftain of the PDP in the state, Isaiah Fayemi, described the amnesty as a Greek gift that has further mocked Nigeria among other nations.
Fayemi said there was no justification for the pardon granted the two former governors adding that it revealed that APC was desperate to retain power beyond 2023 “even when it was obvious that Nigerians have rejected them.”
“The amnesty can best be described as a Greek gift which has made us, as a country, a laughing stock among other nations. This is another testimony that the APC government led by President Buhari has totally lost it. After being rejected by Nigerians, they are now desperate to rig their way in by releasing criminals that will work for them during elections. This won’t work because Nigerians are already tired of the APC,” he added.
In his reaction, a legal practitioner, Ademola Oyedokun, said Nyame and Dariye were pardoned to strengthen the political base of the APC ahead of the forthcoming elections. He faulted the amnesty and said it was obvious that “we don’t have a country.”
Oyedokun, a lecturer at the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti said, “I am looking at it that since the 2023 general elections are around the corner, I think the two of them (Dariye and Nyame) were brought out of the prisons to strengthen their (APC) political base. This is a case that the EFCC had spent over 11 years to prosecute. What has happened to our psyche? What this pardon translates to is that we don’t have a country.
This is the kind of cancer that is eating deep into our national fabric.”
He said the pardon would demoralize the corruption fighters adding that “it should also be noted that this decision is a mockery of the judiciary.
“We are moving closer to the line where there is no repercussion for actions. What about the money they (Dariye and Nyame) stole? So, they will just return to it and be lavishing it? This will destroy the psyche of young men and women to think there is no punishment for crime,” Oyedokun submitted.
A civil rights activist, Ayo Ologun also knocked Buhari over the release.
He said, “The fact remains that these two former governors are thieves. If the presidency is giving us the impression that Dariye and Nyame are being released on age grounds, then we should have all inmates that are close to 70 or over 70 and are still serving terms in all correctional centres, released. If it’s about health, there are people who are almost emaciated in different correctional centres across the country, even at police stations, so, if it’s about health, we should go round all the correctional centres to pardon people whose health is not good enough.
“If it’s about health, there are people who are almost emaciated in different correctional centres across the country, even at police stations, so, if it’s about health, we should go round all the correctional centres to pardon people whose health is not good enough
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“If people were going to jail because of the government’s failure to provide for them like in the case of a man who was recently convicted for stealing Indomie noodles even after he informed the court that it was out of hunger, then, we shouldn’t pity those who stole public money and caused deaths of many. This means that the political class protects themselves and they look out for one another. The earlier those who are at the lower level of the ladder start protecting themselves, the better. These people (political class) don’t care about us,” he said.
In a statement made available to The Point, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, faulted Buhari and the Council of State over the pardon granted Nyame and Dariye.
Ozekhome argued the President and the Council of State goofed and abused their undoubted constitutional powers and privileges in granting pardon to Nyame and Dariye in view of their conducts.
He wondered if Buhari possesses the legal capacity to grant pardon to people prosecuted under state laws. Ozekhome said Buhari’s action was not only a negation of his administration’s anti-corruption stand, it confirms the argument that the president was not committed to the fight against corruption.
Speaking in the same vein, a human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, stated that the Buhari led administration should free all prisoners who have been jailed for stealing.
Falana insisted that in the 1999 constitution, there is equality for all citizens adding that the state pardon has to be extended to all prisons who are serving jail terms for stealing.
“They are pardoning themselves now, the same man who said he came to fight corruption now grants pardon to a man who has stolen billions of Naira. My reaction is that all criminals, all thieves and criminals in our prisons should be released.”
It’s a mockery on fight against corruption -HURIWA
National Coordinator of Civil rights advocacy group – Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, Emmanuel Onwubiko, described as unnecessary and politically motivated the ill-advised and hasty decision to grant pardon to two former governors jailed for corrupt practices.
The Human Rights group said the action of the President and the Council of State is a mockery of the fight against corruption which Buhari claims he is fighting.
HURIWA condemned the early release of the duo particularly on the ground of seeking to use their political popularity in their minority northern Christian states of Plateau and Taraba to canvass electoral advantage for the APC in whose administration since 2015 that the only high profile politicians jailed for corruption are the two Christian Northerners.
“It’s a scandal of monumental proportions that whilst the two Christians and former governors of the northern states of Plateau and Taraba were jailed for corruption, a bulk of other corrupt former Northern governors who are all Moslems are roaming about freely because the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission skewed its prosecutorial activities to target mostly Christians and Southerners because of the domination of Northern Moslems in the hierarchy of the EFCC.”
HURIWA took a swipe at the EFCC saying the best way to begin a thoroughly professional anti-graft war is to ensure a Federal Character in the appointment of directors for the anti-graft body currently dominated by Northern Moslems.
“Senator Dariye former governor of Plateau State and Nyame of Taraba State, convicted for corruption, were pardoned on health and age grounds when they still have several years to complete their jail terms.
“How did the President reach a conclusion that at their relatively young ages that they are too old to be in prison confinement whereas there are thousands of awaiting trial inmates and convicted prisoners who are above 80 in Nigerian prisons whose offences are as simple as theft of chickens from their neighbours. HURIWA said this discrimination on the basis of political connection will adversely harm the Rule of Law?
The group viewed the action of early release from jail of these politicians who had barely served 30% of their total jail terms as a confirmation of the well-known notoriety of the President Buhari’s led administration as a harbinger of the most sophisticated forms of corruption but which administration chooses to use the instrumentality of the so called anti-corruption crusade to whip opposition politicians to line.
U.S based political analyst, Amechi Chukwudi out rightly condemned the state pardon saying it has ridiculed Nigeria globally.
He said, “Buhari has by this act proved to the international community that he is not fighting against corruption. We were meant to believe that his becoming Nigeria’s President would expedite war against corruption but I tell you something, the fight against corruption has suffered a greater setback under his administration than any other administration.
“Nigerians should wait until he leaves office to see that corruption under former Presidents Obasanjo and Jonathan was child’s play. This administration has destroyed the country. The little left of it by Jonathan has been completely destroyed by Buhari. The worst is that, out here we are, I mean Nigerians, are laughing stocks but you people over there see him as the solution to Nigeria’s problems.
“Why on earth should Buhari grant state pardon to former governors who even the Apex Court in Nigeria declared criminals? What remains now? Let him also grant those criminals serving various jail terms state pardon.”
Terrorism is a major aspect of corruption and the President of Nigeria is not saying anything about it. Who knows, maybe he wants to use them for the purposes of defending those terrorists attacking and killing their people in the middle belt. You never can tell. I don’t want to believe he wants to score any cheap political points after all he is not contesting for any position again. I think it is the height of maladministration.”
A political chieftain who preferred anonymity told The Point that what President Buhari did was to encourage governors to continue looting the state’s treasury.
“Buhari has encouraged politicians to loot and loot the people’s commonwealth and nothing will happen. This money is in billions. For whatever reason he should not have released the former governors. There are innocent citizens languishing in prison for minor offences, yet he didn’t see them.
“It’s not about a political party, it’s about a rapid slide into a failed state under the administration of a General. It’s quite unfortunate this is happening when we thought we got the best, see what is happening. It’s terrible, it’s unfortunate.”
A former factional Chairman of the APC in Edo State who defected with his members to the PDP, Anselm Ojezua, told The Point that though it was the decision of the Council of State to grant them (Dariye and Nyame) pardon, and not solely the president’s, it was still damning for the president who has always flown the idea of “zero tolerance” to corruption.
According to him, Buhari should have washed his hands of the pardon.
“It is very possible there is a political colouration to this pardon because those people who were pardoned are people who have followership in their respective states, and you can tell that APC as a political party in Nigeria is actually endangered judging by the opportunity given to them to lead the country
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“The thing about it is that one cannot say it is only the President’s decision (to grant the pardon) because it was the National Council of State that approved it. Perhaps, you might want to question it because the President has always given the impression that he has zero tolerance to corruption. This does not send the right signal in that direction. So, I think it is early days for them to do that. Probably he (Buhari) should have left it for somebody else,” he said.
On the moral implications the state pardon held for Nigeria, Ojezua said it would encourage people thinking of going into politics to have the mindset to embezzle public funds because they believe they would be pardoned and set free if they aligned with the powers that be.
According to Ojezua, though the pardon sent the wrong signal to would-be aspiring politicians, it was also a reflection of the Nigerian society which he bemoaned had been overrun by endemic corruption in its various sectors.
“You see, for me, it (state pardon) seems to be a reflection of Nigerian society. A lot of people may not like it, but I think corruption in Nigeria goes beyond the government. Any sector you look at is fraught with corruption. Look at what is happening in the petroleum distribution sector.
“There’s a slight spike in supply of diesel but you still find the price crippling, and you cannot find any justification for it. That one is not the government. It is Nigerian business men taking advantage of Nigerian people. So, you find it (corruption) everywhere. It’s such a shame.”
Reacting to the allegation Dariye and Nyame were pardoned because of the political patronage they would launder for the ruling APC, Ojezua said that could be the case as both men have huge followership in their respective states. He added that because the APC had failed, they wanted people who could help with their political resurgence.
“It is very possible there is a political colouration to this pardon because those people who were pardoned are people who have followership in their respective states, and you can tell that APC as a political party in Nigeria is actually endangered judging by the opportunity given to them to lead the country.
“The results indicate that they have not done well and since the election is next year, they’re looking for people who can assist them for, maybe, sentimental reasons. The fight against corruption has failed. The fight against insecurity has failed. The economy has also failed.
“The only test remaining for them now is a free and fair election. There is no other way for them. They have failed in every facet and there is nothing they have done to indicate that Nigerians were right in giving them the opportunity to lead,” he further submitted.
Chairman of the PDP in Lagos State, Philip Aivoji, said “from the onset, the whole world knows that the present government is not fighting corruption, it’s partial and selective. When this man was head of state, you saw how he dealt with some of our leaders from the South West. Some of them are still alive, they are not comfortable because there are some ailments they got from the prison. This is to know how these people think, they don’t have the mind of God. Whatever they want to do, they just do it, that’s the type of leadership we have. But let me tell you, we have solace in God, no matter what anybody does. The major determinant of the affairs of man is God. If they take anybody to court because they are selective, there’s nothing I can say about it and whatever the court has decided is what everybody will abide by. But if on their own will, they release somebody because of their plan and they want to use or work with that person to enhance their chances, then there is no point wasting our time on this thing that we already know. What should be paramount in our minds is how we are going to unite this country, how we are going to work together, how we are going to get a leader that is detribalized.”
The Secretary-General of the Yoruba Council of Elders, Kunle Olajide, said that the fact that Dariye and Nyame were pardoned was not an impetus for any serious minded person, politician or not, to engage in corrupt practices.
This, he said, was more so because despite being pardoned, truth remained that the duo were ex-convicts and nothing could erase the fact.
Olajide said that “For political reasons, more often, prisoners are granted pardon. My understanding is that if pardon was granted, it does not remove the fact that they were convicted. The conviction remains. If one was sentenced for 10 years but in three years was pardoned, okay, but it does not remove the fact of conviction.
“As far as I am concerned, the conviction stands. Pardon or no pardon, you cannot wipe off that conviction. Conviction was based on legal arguments for and against. Once a case has been established, no amount of pardon can clear it.
“The pardon is, perhaps, only to reduce the terms of the prison.”
An Ibadan-based legal practitioner in the Kunle Kalejaye (SAN) Chambers, Adeyemo J.A., said that “The Presidential pardon granted the former governors has shown the APC administration of President Buhari as an unserious and frivolous one. It has demonstrated that the mantra of fight against corruption, upon which the government won the 2015 election, is just a fluke, propaganda machinery deployed to merely hoodwink Nigerians.
“Though the President has the prerogative to grant amnesty to whoever is considered deserving of it, political office holders who were found guilty by the Supreme Court of allegation of corruption, having stolen billions of naira from the public treasuries of their states, should by no means be granted any pardon. With the singular act, President Buhari has shown that the judiciary which his administration had in the past accused of aiding corruption is indeed better off than the executive. The decision has rubbished the performance of the judiciary and made mockery of the same.
“Aside this, the efforts of the anti-graft body, EFCC, has been ridiculed and this is capable of emboldening many other politicians to commit similar offences, believing that at the end of the day, they would be set free. This is sickening and paints the picture of a government not worth its onions in terms of what it professes.
“It may not be too far- fetched that releasing the two former governors might be a back- door method of bringing them back to the mainstream politics and positioned ahead of 2023 elections. This is a rape on our democracy.
“To me, both the President and the Council of State have goofed and abused their constitutional powers and privileges by granting pardon to publicly and judicially-adjudged convicts who had impoverished the citizens of their states through their greed. Why put the EFCC to the rigour of prosecution and stressing the Judges that sentenced them and the Supreme Court Justices that affirmed the conviction, when President Buhari and Council of State knew they would eventually grant them pardon? This is ridiculous to say the least.”
President, Christian Leadership Mobilisation Organisation International, Niyi Ojedokun, stated that the implications of the pardon granted Dariye and Nyame would take a bad toll on the nation as a bad precedent.
“They are only proving to Nigerians that they are dogs that bark loudly only and cannot bite, which might even affect their votes in the coming election. Nobody will take the present government seriously after the amnesty granted to the ex-governors. It’s only those that don’t know what is going on that will still vote for them in the coming election. That was the main reason we voted them in during the 2019 election because they promised to eradicate corruption in which they have failed woefully.
“It is also going to increase the rate of corruption because when they defect to the ruling party, they will have their backing irrespective of their atrocities. The ex-governors will have no other choice than to support the government that gave them amnesty in the 2023 election. Hence, the corruption trend continues if they have their way in the coming election.”
