The officials of Nigeria’s anti-graft agencies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), have stated that their morale and commitment to work have been negatively affected.
This said apathy isn’t unconnected with the controversial presidential pardon granted the former governor of Taraba State, Jolly Nyame and his Plateau State counterpart, Joshua Dariye, by President Muhammadu Buhari
It’s noteworthy that both men had been convicted and jailed for stealing state funds during their reign as governors of the aforementioned states in Nigeria.
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The officials of the two institutions lamented over the pardon and accused President Buhari of sabotaging the anti-corruption fight, though the personnel who made the outcry asked not to be named for fear of victimisation.
“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 said.
It would be recalled that, penultimate week, at the National Council of State’s meeting held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Buhari granted pardon to the two middle-aged former governors, as well as 157 others, on the grounds of health challenge and age.
One official said the anti-graft officers would now merely attend work to earn their salaries without passion.
He said, “People will be taunting us now that a president can pardon a big thief whom we seriously try to prosecute.”
He seriously lamented that the prosecutions of the two former governors 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.” the official stated.
The official added that some members of staff are querying their moral ground to go pursue other cases of corruption.
On his part, another official said he doubts Buhari reviewed the implication of his actions on operatives of the 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 said.
Meanwhile, some non-governmental organisations such as the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), and Transparency International (TI) also condemned the pardon granted to the corrupt politicians convicted by the Nigerian courts.
The civil society organisations are worried about what they called “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”.
“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,” a statement signed by CISLAC’s Executive Director, Auwal Musa reads in parts.
In the same vein, a human rights lawyer and activist, Mike Ozekhome said the official pardon is a major setback to Nigeria’s fight against corruption. He argued that pardoning the corrupt politicians had only validated the public perception of Buhari’s administration’s lop-sided corruption fight.
“This move goes further to demoralize our anti-corruption agencies who are already facing challenges prosecuting high profile cases of corruption,”
He also added, “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.”
On the other hand, in its statement on Sunday, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) urged President Buhari to use his “good offices to urgently review and withdraw the pardon granted to former governors of Plateau State, Senator Joshua Dariye, and Taraba State, Rev. Jolly Nyame who are serving jail terms for corruption.”
According to the SERAP, “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.”
Like I earlier stated about this gesture made by Buhari, presidential pardon is good and sound only when granted to deserving individuals. There are people who truly deserve pardon from the government.
We must understand that many innocent Nigerians are currently languishing in various jails, yet no one is talking about them, but the government would always be quick to grant pardon or clemency to the country’s convicted corrupt politicians.
It becomes more appalling when realized that the Buhari-led government rode to power via the campaign of fighting graft and corruption squarely.