The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof Itse Sagay (SAN), said the pardon for the two ex-governors was in order. He told Saturday PUNCH that the decision was not taken by Buhari alone but by the National Council of State, which comprised all the 36 governors, former Presidents and past and present Chief Justices of Nigeria.
The senior advocate added that he was convinced that Dariye and Nyame had learnt their lessons and had been punished enough, having spent four years in jail already.
He added, “The President didn’t do it alone but with the Council of State. I am sure it must have been a consensus. It is not such a terrible thing as people are saying. Four years in prison is tough. Some of us may not survive a month in prison.
“They have faced humiliation and loss of status, falling from Government Houses to prison. So, I don’t think there is anything wrong if they are being pardoned.”
Speaking on insinuation that the pardon was political given that Dariye and Nyame were members of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Sagay said, “No, I can disagree with this entirely. These people are not active party men anymore. When they are pardoned, for 10 years they cannot participate in politics. So, they are of no consequential advantage to the President or any party. I don’t think it’s a party matter.”
A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, said he had yet to read the report and could not comment on the factual reasons for the pardon or those who were pardoned.
However, he said there was a framework before people could be recommended for pardon. “What the Presidential Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy does is guided by what is known as the parole rules, because the purpose of sentencing is not to punish but to redeem.
“So, if you have been of good behaviour and you have spent a considerable time of your sentence, then those are the two critical indicators that you are qualified to be recommended for parole. So, a parole board will sit, assess the situation and invite you for interviews. If you pass the interviews, the parole board will make a recommendation for a remission of your sentence.”
He said if he were to head such a committee, he would not recommend someone who had a long sentence and whose crimes were harmful to public policy.
He added, “So, I will not recommend somebody who has killed somebody brutally and somebody who has been charged and sentenced for corruption when corruption is one of the critical issues in Nigeria.
“Suppose the committee were to ask people to electronically vote if they think someone found guilty of corruption should be pardoned, the person, in my view, will fail that test because there is a very strong view in Nigeria that people who have been found guilty of corruption should face their sentence. So, if you are pardoning people, who have been found guilty of corruption, it may send the wrong message.” (Punch)
