Buhari’s pardon dampens morale of EFCC, ICPC officials

Buhari’s pardon for Nyame and Dariye sabotage anti-graft fight, they say

By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor

Several human rights advocates have condemned the pardon Muhammadu Buhari granted last Thursday to former Governors Jolly Nyame (Taraba) and Joshua Dariyer (Plateau) who were jailed for stealing from their state treasuries.

Both Nyame and Dariye were tried and jailed at the Federal High Court in Abuja in 2018.

Nyame was found guilty of stealing N1.64 billion and sentenced to 14 years in prison. Dariye was found guilty of stealing N1.12 billion and also sentenced to 14 years in jail.

The Supreme Court upheld the conviction of Nyame in February 2020 and that of Dariye in March 2021.

The pardon came as a shock to many, including officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) who say it has plummeted their morale.

“We used to say our problem in our work against corruption is the judiciary but we see a lack of political will by the President,” one EFCC official who did not want to be named for fear of victimisation told PREMIMUM TIMES.

Dariye, 64, and Nyame, 66, were convicted for mismanaging and stealing public funds while they were in office.

But on 14 April, at the meeting of the National Council of State in the Villa in Abuja, Buhari granted pardon to them and 157 others on the grounds of health and age.

He pardoned Nyame and Dariye despite their still serving jail terms.

By granting them pardon, insiders told PREMIUM TIMES, Buhari – who rode to power on the pledge of fighting corruption – has dampened the morale of the officials of the anti-graft agencies.

One official disclosed that anti-graft officers would now merely attend work to earn their salaries without passion.

“People will be taunting us now that a President can pardon a big thief whom we seriously try to prosecute,” he said.

He lamented that the prosecution of Nyame and Dariye took up to 10 years and their eventual convictions were a high point of their work.

“Staff are angrier because the two former Governors were tried for over a decade and got convicted. They are saying that the corrupt public servants even made appeals but their conviction was affirmed by Nigeria’s apex court.”

Some members of staff are querying their moral grounds to pursue other cases of corruption, the official added.

Another official said he doubts Buhari reviewed the implication of his actions on operatives of anti-graft agencies.

“People risked their lives and friendships to investigate the ex-Governors. They refused to be compromised. Now it appears all the efforts were in vain,” the anti-corruption investigator moaned.

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Reactions of activists

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and individual human rights activists who have also condemned the pardon of corrupt politicians convicted by the courts include:

• Transparency International (TI)
• Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)

• Mike Ozekhome, SAN
• Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP)

Civil society organisations expressed concern about “the effect such ill-thought political pardon will have on the anti-corruption efforts, which constitutes the major agenda and commitment of the current administration.”

Auwal Musa (Executive Director of CISLAC, the Nigerian chapter of TI)

“We sincerely hope the processes and objectives of such Presidential pardon will be re-examined and made transparent to avoid bad precedence, especially as the nation moves towards a political transition in the 2023 general elections,” Musa said in a statement reported by PREMIUM TIMES.

Council on Foreign Relations also reported Musa as lamenting that the pardon has “rubbished the work of the EFCC” and validated criticism of Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign as “a means to settle political scores and pardon those in [his] camp.”

Mike Ozekhome

“The official pardon is a major setback to Nigeria’s fight against corruption. Pardoning corrupt politicians has only validated public perception that the fight against corruption by the Buhari administration is lopsided.

“This move goes further to demoralise our anti-corruption agencies who are already facing challenges prosecuting high profile cases of corruption. Some of these cases took over ten years to conclude and with lots of resources committed.

“In one case, for example, a witness had to be flown from the United Kingdom to Nigeria at different times with funds from taxpayers.

“Furthermore, operatives of anti-corruption agencies had to put their lives at risk even to the point of facing physical attacks while these cases were on and suddenly, we read that these individuals have been pardoned.”

Kolawole Oluwadare (SERAP Deputy Director)

Buhari should use his “good offices to urgently review and withdraw the pardon granted to …  Dariye and … Nyame who are serving jail terms for corruption.

“Presidential pardon for corruption cases is inconsistent with the rule of law, and the public interest, as it undermines the principle of equality before the law.

“It will undermine public confidence in your government’s fight against corruption, and the justice system,” Oluwadare said in a letter he wrote to Buhari, dated 16 April.