President Muhammadu Buhari has been lambasted by a member of the Police Service Commission, PSC, Najatu Mohammed.
Najatu expressed anger over Buhari’s decision to pardon two former governors, Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame of Plateau and Taraba States respectively, according to a report by Daily Nigerian.
On Thursday last week, the Council of State, chaired by Mr Buhari, pardoned Messrs Dariye and Nyame, alongside 157 other prisoners across the country.
While Mr Dariye, who governed Plateau between 1999 and 2007, bagged 14 years for stealing N1.16 billion, Mr Nyame, who was governor of Taraba from 1999 to 2007, received 12 years for stealing N1.6 billion, a verdict that was later affirmed by the Supreme Court in 2020.
In an interview with Radio France International, RFI, on Monday and monitored by DAILY NIGERIAN, Mrs Mohammed said Mr Buhari ought to have known that Nigerian treasury was not his personal belonging.
According to her, the Messrs Dariye and Nyame should have been pardoned by their respective state governors where they committed the corrupt acts, saying, the president lacks the constitutional power to grant amnesty to the convicts that committed offences in their states.
She added that pardoning the two ex-governors had proved that Nigeria’s challenges are far from being overcome.
Mrs Mohammed noted that even as the court had proved the cases beyond reasonable doubt, granting them presidential pardon was inimical to fight against corruption in the country.
“The government is wrong. The president should have known that the public funds do not belong to him.
“The federal government does not even have the rights to grant the amnesty as the offences were committed against the states.
“Secondly, granting them pardon speaks volume about the systemic failure in the country. It’s the reason we have insecurity. The looting of billions in Plateau, which was confirmed by the court, might not be unconnected with the killings, educational decay, bad roads and resultant deaths, absence of drugs in the hospital that leads to deaths in the state.
“After EFCC and the judiciary did their best in prosecution of the cases for a decade, you can’t just come overnight to pardon them. Was it your money they stole? Why is Buhari administration always against the people?
“The president does only what serves his interest or that of his lieutenants at the detriment of public interest.
“The constitution does not give a leader license to do madness. These are not the characters the law contemplate should be pardoned. If these characters would be set free on the pretext of ill-health, then terrorists should also be released. There is no terrorism worse than the atrocities committed by these governors.
“Buhari was elected to fight corruption. Sadly, he is now the person committing this atrocity. Buhari has proved that he is untrustworthy and unreliable.
“Buhari has failed all the promises he made to the nation, especially the northerners who lost their lives and property because of him. He has not fulfilled a single promise he took.
“Buhari administration is the most corrupt government ever in the history of Nigeria. The level of stealing is unprecedented. Everybody commits crimes with impunity,” she added.
