The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has requested that President Muhammad Buhari revoke the presidential pardons granted to former Plateau State Governor Joshua Dariye and his Taraba State counterpart, Rev. Jolly Nyame.
If Buhari is serious about fighting corruption in the country, SERAP has asked him to revoke the presidential pardon.
Dariye and Nyame, as well as 157 others serving various prison terms, were granted pardons following the recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy at the Council of State meeting last week.
Dariye was sentenced to ten years in jail for stealing N1.16 billion from Plateau State’s ecological money, while Nyame was convicted of stealing N1.6 billion from Taraba.
SERAP encouraged President Buhari to revaluate the process as soon as possible and to propose a constitutional amendment to the National Assembly to reform the provisions on the exercise of the prerogative of mercy in order to make them more transparent, consistent, and compatible with Nigeria’s international anti-corruption obligations.
The presidential pardon for corruption cases, according to SERAP, is incompatible with the rule of law and the public interest since it undermines the idea of equality before the law. SERAP also demanded that Mr Dariye and Mr Nyame be allowed to serve out their sentences because the presidential pardon in their situations would appear to be unjust and unworthy.
The letter begins, in part, with;
“However, when section 15(5) of the Constitution is read together with the oath, it would seem to impose some ethical conditions on you to ensure that the exercise of the discretionary power of the prerogative of mercy is not such that it will encourage corruption or impunity of perpetrators.
“The investigation and prosecution of the corruption cases involving the pardoned former governors Dariye and Nyame reportedly cost over N300 million of taxpayers’ money. The cases went from the High Court to the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
“The constitutional power of prerogative of mercy ought not to be an instrument of impunity.”
