Anti-corruption fight: FG chickens out, releases ex-governors Nyame, Dariye

…APC is a cathedral of corrupt people — Ex-PDP Zonal Publicity Secretary, Fadaka

Abimbola Abatta and Joel Oladele

The President Muhammadu Buhari-led government has shot itself in the foot again as it reneges on its promise to end corruption in Nigeria.

Recall that during the presidential election in 2015, Buhari vowed to kill corruption before it kills Nigeria when his administration takes off on May 29 of the same year.

Buhari who said tackling corruption is third on his agenda, after insecurity and unemployment had said, “The level of corruption in Nigeria is intolerable and we will make sure we succeed in fighting corruption when we get there.

However, the body language of the President Buhari in the last seven years has continued to clash with the present administration’s avowed commitment to fight and end corruption.

This is as the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), on Monday, released the former Governor of Plateau State, Senator Joshua Dariye and ex-Governor of Taraba State, Jolly Nyame.

Nigerian NewsDirect reports that the duo were serving jail terms having being convicted of corruption charges until they were granted a presidential pardon by President Buhari alongside 157 other convicts in April this year.

The former Governors were convicted by Justice Adebukola Banjoko of the Federal High Court, Abuja in 2018.

Dariye was convicted of stealing N1.16 billion while serving as Plateau governor from 1999 to 2007 while Nyame, who was Taraba governor from 1999 to 2007, was convicted of stealing N1.6 billion from the state’s treasury.

The Plateau Governor was sentenced to 14 years in prison, but his term was eventually reduced to 10 years by the Court of Appeal in Abuja, while his conviction was affirmed by the Supreme Court.

APC is a cathedral of corrupt people — Ex-PDP Zonal Publicity Secretary, Fadaka

Reacting to the news of the release of the ex-Governors, the former Zonal Publicity Secretary, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in South West, Mr. Ayo Fadaka has said the Buhari-led administration is not serious about fighting corruption, rather, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has become a cathedral of corrupt people under his watch.

Speaking with Nigerian NewsDirect, Fadaka said “if the government is serious about fighting corruption, they will not be releasing corrupt people.”

He added that for Buhari to have pardoned such corrupt politicians, it’s another proof that this administration is a failed government, which Nigerians should not expect much from.

His words, “We’ve always known that the APC is a scam, they came to power telling so many lies promising what they could not do. When they were looking for Nigerians’ vote, they promised restructuring, that did not happen, they promised to combat corruption and send it out of our landscape, that did not happen. What has happened is that the APC itself has now become a cathedral of corrupt people to worship.

“To that extent, Buhari cannot be taken seriously on whatever he says. The claim of the APC that they were coming to fight corruption was farcical and we now know where our country stands.

“Today as we speak, the level of corrupt practices that is being perpetrated in Nigeria is better imagined than told. We are aware that the Accountant General of the Federation was able to comfortably steal close to one hundred and twenty billion Naira.

“We are also aware that so many appointees of this government have stolen so many billions of Naira from the system to the level that the economy has finally crashed. I can assure you that when these people go to bed every day, and when they wake up in the morning, they remain surprised that the entire structure has not collapsed because they have so debased our system to a level that only God can help Nigeria now.”

The former PDP Zonal Publicity Secretary also said with the level of damage done to the economy by corrupt politicians, the next president has a lot to do to revamp the economy.

“After the 8 years of Buhari, it will take someone on a Messianic mission to be able to revamp the economy of Nigeria to be able to put Nigeria back on the track because so much has happened. Our country is down today and the government does not have an idea of what to do to sustain our nation.

“We just pray that the next few months will come quickly and that we have another president and hopefully not from APC because the candidate of APC, we are being told he’s going to come to uphold the legacy of this failed government.

“Nigerians cannot afford that. And I just want to urge Nigerians too, I pray that they should be ready to identify who and which party can bring a change in the affairs of our nation and if you permit me I would say PDP is the only party that is aspiring to do that now because that is the party where we have a presidential candidate who is experienced and who God in his mercy too has equipped with enough strength and energy to confront the debacles that Nigeria has become today.”

On whether President Buhari alone should be blamed since the decision to pardon the offenders was decided at the council of State, Fadaka said: “The president made a proposal to the council and the proposal was accepted. Me and you do not know what was contained in his proposal to the council of State. It is on the strength of that proposal that the council of State will deliberate on the matter.

Again, the bulk still stops on the president’s table because he was the one that brought the idea that he wanted to exercise his prerogative of mercy in favour of a particular person and he would put the ground on why he decided to do that, so the council in his wisdom will look at what he has said and take a decision.

“It is possible that the grounds put together to get approval for the prerogative of mercy could even be fictitious. If the government is serious about fighting corruption, they will not be releasing corrupt people.

“For instance, look at some corrupt people in PDP, when PDP was in government, we had a number of very corrupt people, no sooner than Buhari became president, they all moved to APC and began to worship in APC cathedral of corruption. So, as it is, it’s obvious the president is not serious on the issue on ground, to that extent, the party has failed the nation so badly and it is time for the nation to be thinking about how to do away with him and his party,” Fadaka maintained.