National Council of State pardons two convicted ex govs, 157 others
…Action may weaken deterrence, encourage impunity — Adamu
By Uthman Salami and Ariemu Ogaga
The National Council of State has granted state pardon to the convicted ex-Governors, Joshua Dariye of Plateau State and Jolly Nyame of Taraba States, who are serving terms in jail over corruption.
The two convicted Governors were pardoned on health and age grounds when they still had several years to complete their jail terms.
Meanwhile, a security expert who spoke to Nigerian NewsDirect in an exclusive interaction said the Federal Government’s action may portend negative precedence for future conduct of public office holders.
Dariye and Nyame were not only the convicts who were pardoned by the council, other 157 prisoners convicted for various degree of crimes were equally pardoned at the Council’s meeting which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja on yesterday.
Other convicts who benefitted from the pardon were 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.
Others convicts who made the pardon are shrouded as details are yet to be made available to the press as at the time of filing this report.
Action may weaken deterrence, encourage impunity — Adamu
Reacting to the development in a chat with Nigerian NewsDirect on Thursday, a security expert, the Chief ExecutiveO Officer Beacon Securityo Consult Dr. Kabiru Adamu, said the action may weaken detterence thereby fanning the ambers of impunity.
He noted that the singular action may cause members of the political class to continue with impunity and criminality knowing that there is always an escape route.
In his words, “Granting convicted persons pardon is a presidential and Council of State prerogative.
“The inclusion of two former governors who were convicted for various offences that bordered on corruption in the list can be seen from many lenses including political – i.e. to appease their states and get them on board.
“Irrespective of the motive, the consequences are clear: the deterrence element that our laws are meant to serve may have been weakened. This means that members of the political class will continuity to act with impunity knowing that there is always an escape route from the law at all stages of the judicial and penal process,” he stated.
Dariye governed Plateau between 1999 and 2007 and was jailed for stealing N2billion of public funds during his time as Plateau State governor between 1999 and 2007.
The former governor, elected as senator representing Plateau Central in the Senate in 2015, was sentenced in June 2018 but still completed his tenure from jail in June 2019.
Recall that a former Governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang and the Senator representing Plateau North, Istifanus Gyang had appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to grant presidential pardon to the ex-governor of the state, Joshua Dariye.
Nyame, on the other hand, was the elected governor of Taraba State from 1999 to 2007 and was convicted to serve a 12-year jail term at the Kuje prison over misappropriation of funds while he was in office.
The Highest court in the country upheld his conviction in February 2020.
