AS he drowns in the gale of criticisms coming his way a day after granting a dubious state pardon to former Governor Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha, the convicted felon and plunderer of the commonwealth of the President Jonathan’s home state of Bayelsa, the president is choosing the path of the father who damned an opportunity to set the better example for his child, saying that he does not give a damn about the ire that his decision is generating.
President Jonathan position concerning the matter of the state pardon was communicated through Dr. Doyin Okupe, the president’s senior special assistant on publicity, who has said that Nigerians needed to imbibe a habit of showing respect for the country’s institutions and their pronouncements.
“We must begin to respect and honor our institutions. I don’t need to defend the action that has been taken,” a defiant Okupe said during a media availability at the studios of the Lagos-based Channel’s TV on Wednesday, pointing out that the decision to grant state pardon to the recipients was sanctioned by the influential Council of States.
“That is an action that has been taken by the National Council of States and I have no apology for that,” pointing out that even children often find their parents’ decisions unpalatable.
“It is not all decisions parents take that are palatable for their kids. But with time they will realize that their parents are right.”
“A man was deposed. He was hounded, tried and jail. What is wrong with giving pardon to a remorseful sinner?” Okupe asked.
“How come granting pardon to him has become an aberration? Is it because he is from Bayelsa? Is it from he is from South-South? Is it because he is connected to Mr. President?”
The latest reactions from the presidency puts paid to any notion that that President Jonathan made an unintentional error in granting the state pardon to Mr. Alamanieyeseigha, a man whose actions as a public office holder greatly embarrassed Nigerians at home and abroad.
The former governor was found guilty of theft and misuse of public funds on an enormous scale that shocked Nigerians. Not only did he steal, but when he was apprehended for money laundering outside the country and granted bail afterwards, he absconded like a common criminal, supposedly dressed like a woman, to Nigeria.
Eventually the disgraced former governor was issued what amounted to a slap on the wrist for his crimes. The days he spent in detention while the trial lasted were subtracted from his 2-year jail term, and he literally walked home free.
Alamieyeseigha would return to commence hobnobbing with the incumbent President Jonathan, who was his one-time deputy when the former was governor of Bayelsa.
The disgraced felon had free access to the State House in Abuja, where he is usually seen in company of President Jonathan attending events there.
The presidency’s reaction is likely to fuel, rather than quell, the burning ire of the public concerning the issue of the state pardon. It is not the first time that President Jonathan’s image-makers have adopted a brash, dismissive tone to genuine agitations of the public over decisions that has to do with government administration.