By James Orji
President Muhammadu Buhari has assured Nigerians that the war against corruption is still on course. The president made the assertion following the outbursts that greeted his government pardon of two former governors convicted for corruption.
Former Governors Jolly Nyame and Joshua Dariye of Taraba and Plateau states, respectively were last week pardoned by the president on the recommendation of the Council of States.
The two former governors collectively stole close to N3 billion belonging to their states.
The government also pardoned 157 other convicts.
The action did not sit well with many Nigerians who said the Buhari’s administration is encouraging corruption rather than fighting it as the government has promised.
For instance, a rights activist and popular Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana said the president should have pardoned all those already serving jail terms for petty crimes. The Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN said this will promote equity.
Responding to the criticisms, Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President of Media and Publicity, said in a statement on Monday that the president pardoned the former governors based on recommendation by prominent Nigerians.
Shehu, said Buhari was also guided by the Constitution and the recommendation by the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, PACPM.
The presidential spokesman cited Section 175 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999(as amended).
The statement reads in part: “The Federal Government constituted the PACPM on August 28th, 2018 with the mandate of assisting the President in the discharge of his constitutional responsibility of granting pardon/clemency to convicts or ex-convicts in deserving cases.
“The Committee filed its first report in March 2020 and reconvened on Thursday, 28 September 2021 to attend to the myriad of pending applications for presidential pardon and clemency from Nigerians across the country.
“These accrued cases followed the established process of applying for pardon or clemency first to the Correctional Service (formerly Nigerian Prison Service), which must certify claims made, be they of life-threatening ill-health, (as in the cases of Governors Dariye, Nyame; John Joshua Uloh, Engr Umar Bamalli, Sa’adu Ayinla Alanamu, Charles Ihenatu, Akinwumi Ajayi and tens of others making the approved list of 159; or such cases arising from remorse and good conduct or plainly on the basis of compassion among other stated criteria.
“The PACPM members, under the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, followed up the recommendations with a visit to selected Correctional Centers in several states of the Federation to “critically appraise and identify potential cases of convicts and ex-convicts before recommending them for presidential pardon/clemency and reduced sentences.”
“In this round of the exercise, 412 inmates were interviewed and 162 were recommended to the Council of State by the President in the exercise of his powers, pursuant to Section 175 (2) which requires that he should carry out this function after being “advised by the Council.”
‘Clearly, the presentation to the Council of States meeting last week, attended by former Presidents, a former Chief Justice and 36 States and the FCT along the lines of its statutory membership was a culmination of a rigorous process, regulated and guided by the law which was not, in any way designed to achieve a political purpose.
“While it is natural that the cases of the ex-governors-two among many- would excite political analysts, coming at a time when elections are in the air, the President would at the same time have come across as insensitive and cruel to most people were he to have ignored very compelling cases recommended for pardon made to him because someone is a former Governor. Even Governors have the right to be treated fairly under the law.
“President Buhari assures the nation that nothing done here was intended to achieve a political end or send a revisionist message on the relentless war against corruption which he has ably and evidently led by personal examples.”
