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Former President of West African Bar Association (WABA) and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, on Friday criticised President Muhammadu Buhari for granting state pardon to former Governors Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame of Plateau and Taraba States respectively, who are serving terms in jail for corruption.
The human right activist said that the president must, in the interest of fairness and justice, grant state pardon for other criminals and petty thieves, saying when the big ‘thieves’ are being released because they belong to the ruling party, common petty thieves who were jailed because of crimes committed due to hunger must also be set free.
TheStory gathered that the National Council of State had on Thursday granted state pardon to former the Governors who were serving terms in jail for corruption. The governors were among 159 prisoners pardoned by the Council at a meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja.
Among those that benefited from the pardon are a 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.
Mr Nyame, 66, governor of Taraba State from 1999 to 2007, was serving a 12-year jail term at the Kuje prison for misappropriation of funds while he was in office. The Supreme Court upheld his conviction in February 2020.
Mr Dariye, 64, who governed Plateau between 1999 and 2007, was jailed for stealing N2 billion 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.
But speaking at the First Anniversary of Comrade Yinka Odumakin Lecture and Book Presentation held in Lagos, Falana said that the injustice in the country must not be allowed to continue. He said if the governors could be released on the account of the state pardon, others too should be granted the same pardon in line with the under Section 17 of 1999 constitution.
Falana said:”My reactions is that all criminals and petty thieves in our prison should be released. You know why? And under Section 17 of 1999 constitution, there shall be equal right for all citizens. And Section 42 said that there shall be no discrimination on the basis of class, gender and whatever. So you can’t take out two people on the basis that they belong to the ruling party. It is illegal. You took them out an left the rest there.
He warned that if the government refused to release other criminals serving jail terms, he would instigate other lawyers whose clients were being detained or serving jail terms to approach the court to challenge what he described as discriminatory treatment.
“You must also extend presidential pardon to all thieves because if the big thieves are being asked to go away, you must also extend it to others. I can assure you if the government doesn’t release others, I’m going to suggest to lawyers whose clients are likely to be left in custody to go to court and challenge the discriminatory treatment melted out to their own clients. Just two weeks ago, a Nigerian was jailed for stealing two cartons of noodles or spaghetti worth N5,000 in Abuja and pleaded on the judge that I have no food, and the judge jailed him for six months.”
Falana also warned the presidential aspirants, especially those from the ruling All Progressive Congress not to continue with current policy of this administration, describing it as unjust and corrupt.
“We cannot continue like that. Particularly those in the ruling party, who are promising to continue the Programmes and policies of the Buhari administration that put our country under. Nigeria has become a huge joke in the comity of nations. And so for any set of people to say that you want to package a rickety vehicle who will panel fit it. It isn’t going to move! So, why they talking of continuity. It can only be a continuity of disaster, continuity of injustice, continuity of corruption. You know that they are pardoning themselves now. A man came to power and say I’m going to fight corruption now the only two governors that have been jailed, you now pardoned them after stealing billions of Naira.”
