Not too long ago, President Muhammadu Buhari granted pardon to Joshua Dariye, former governor of Plateau State, and Jolly Nyame, former governor of Taraba State, and 157 others, despite the wave of public outcry that greeted the decision. In this issue, some Nigerians who spoke to Ijeoma UKAZU and Williams ABAH weighed in on why the decision didn’t go down well with Nigerians. Excerpts:
SUNDAY IKEJE: Although the president reserves the right to grant presidential pardon, this particular pardon didn’t go down well with me. Corruption has become so endemic in Nigeria’s public institutions. I think what government needs to do is to strategize on measures to curb unwholesome practices in the country.
These people granted pardon were public officials entrusted with state funds to be used for the general interest of the masses, but they siphoned them, and converted them for their personal use. You see, Nigeria’s leaders play politics with everything. That is why it is hard to address some of the challenges that fare facing our country.
How could any responsible leaders conceive such an idea as to grant pardon to someone whose action had caused collateral damage to the state’s economy? Do you know how many persons who died in the course of their financial mismanagement? Some of these monies they looted were supposed to be channeled towards healthcare and education, but they made away with it, leaving millions of their people to die in abject poverty and lack of access to qualitative education and health.
GODWIN ITODO: This presidential pardon did not come as a surprise to me because there is nothing that cannot happen in this country. It seems our leaders are not learning from errors of the past. Imagine somebody who stole billions of naira, convicted in court and sentenced to prison, a president just wakes up and sets them free. My question is, did they return the looted money back to the public treasury? The answer is no.
During their trials before they were eventually convicted, the looted money was used to finance their cases in court. In this country, government doesn’t see the need to put a law in place that once a public officer is alleged to have been involved in any public distrust, especially financial fraud, the person should be set aside, and his accounts frozen, so doesn’t have access to his them. Government can give such persons free legal services, pending when his case is determined by the court of competent jurisdiction.
We don’t have all these measures in Nigeria, and that is why those entrusted with public funds, are not afraid of stealing and using the looted money to fight the government in court. I suggest a law should be enacted for any public officer alleged to have committed financial crimes, found guilty, convicted, and sentenced to prison, but later granted pardon, to return all the looted money to the state treasury.
NUELA OBIDIKE: Well, the president reserves the right to grant presidential pardon. But such action shouldn’t be taken arbitrarily. Nigeria’s collective interest supersedes individual interest. I’m not against the pardon granted, but I think there is need for us as a country whose administrative system, in all facets, has been altered for selfish interest, to approach leadership in a manner that would resolve the many national problems staring us in the face.
Most of the time we blame the judiciary for not standing firm in dispensing justice, but when they do, you see all manner of external forces frustrating their effort. As the president granted those governor s presidential pardon, they were all jubilating, but they have forgotten what their actions caused their states. Granting pardon cannot stop corruption. Rather, it encourages it. So, there is need to sanitize some of these procedures of granting presidential pardon, because if it continues in this reckless manner, it would encourage people to be involved in crime in our public institutions.
EUCHARIA ANENE: Granting pardon to former governors Jolly Nyame and Joshua Dariye on the ground of ill health is in order. Our constitution gives President Buhari the right to grant pardon to convicted Nigerians, not just the elites; and this is not only practiced in Nigeria.
The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, justified the pardon stating that the two former governors had life-threatening illnesses. Even though public opinions are saying that these former governors can be treated and returned to jail, that does not sound right to me.
The presidential pardon also means that they cannot be referred to as ex-convict as all offences they were charged with have been forgiven by the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.
EMILIA PAUL: For me, granting pardon to convicted ex-governors is not right. What these pardons further prove is that people don’t get punished enough for the crime they commit. The former Taraba State Governor, Jolly Nyame, was serving a 12-year jail sentence for diverting N1.64 billion during his tenure while Joshua Dariye was serving 10-year imprisonment for N1.126 billion fraud.
These former governors were found guilty and charged. At best, the president should let them pay for the crime they committed to Nigerians by embezzling funds made for public good. The presidential pardon doesn’t sit well with me and it gives room for continuation of such act with the hope to get a pardon from the president.
FELIX CHIME: Firstly, this news came as a shock to me. The release of former governors, Jolly Nyame and Joshua Dariye is sequel to the receipt of the letter of clemency from the Presidential Prerogative of Mercy Committee by the Controller General of Corrections, Haliru Nababa.
The Council of State, led by the President, Muhammadu Buhari, had on April 14 approved the pardon of the convicted ex-governors. Such pardon is not good for our nascent democracy. They all should be made to complete their jail term.
In my opinion, those granted bail should not, in anyway, contest for any elective position or hold public office going forward. Granting them pardon is enough slap on the faces of Nigerians whose money they stole for their good.
