The attorney general of the federation and minister of justice, Lateef Fagbemi, says that convicted corrupt Nigerians should not get state pardons.
Mr Fagbemi said this at a roundtable meeting organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission for attorneys general on Monday in Abuja.
In a statement by his spokesman Kamarudeen Ogundele, Mr Fagbemi solicited the cooperation of all stakeholders, especially the attorneys general, in the fight against corruption.
“I will suggest in our next constitution review exercise that we expunge those found guilty of corruption from benefiting from powers of ‘Prerogative of Mercy’ to serve as a deterrent to others,” he said.
He advised them to eschew nepotism, political witch-hunting, rivalry, and bigotry in the fight against corruption just because they wanted to please their governors.
“Your legal opinions on cases must be based on facts as practised in advanced countries. We should not give in to public sentiments as in Nigeria. We are polarised along political lines,” stated Mr Fagbemi.
The AGF also stressed that there should be no basis for rationalising corruption or crimes in the country. He advised anti-graft agencies to conduct thorough investigations of cases before arresting suspects to avoid media trials.
The minister urged the agencies to get their facts before summoning anyone for questioning.
“Let us be thorough and take our time before inviting someone for questioning. Do not do shoddy jobs and don’t be quick to say we have caught a big fish. If it is two or three big fish you are able to get in a year and you are thorough, it is alright,” the country’s attorney general explained. “Also stop filing bogus counts of charges against defendants just to generate frenzy in the public against the suspect. Nobody wants a 50-count charge; make it five or six and be sure in order to get suspect in.”
In 2022, then-President Muhammadu Buhari pardoned two members of his political party who were jailed for looting state resources by federal judges.
Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame were freed from federal prisons after Mr Buhari informed the Council of State of his administration’s readiness to grant mercy to the politicians.
The duo served as governors of contiguous Plateau and Taraba states along the vast mountains of central and eastern regions. They were convicted in 2018 by the same judge, Adebukola Banjoko of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja.
While Mr Dariye, who governed Plateau between 1999 and 2007, bagged 14 years for stealing N1.16 billion, Mr Nyame, Taraba governor from 1999 to 2007, received 12 years for stealing N1.6 billion, a verdict that was later affirmed by the Supreme Court in 2020.
They were serving their respective sentences at the federal correctional facility in Kuje, a suburb of Abuja.
Messrs Dariye and Nyame had joined Mr Buhari’s All Progressives Congress before being jailed, with Mr Dariye serving as a senator from Plateau.
Mr Buhari was elected in 2015 on the back of his fervent promises to stamp out corruption, but his regime has been mired in corruption, ineptitude and gross human rights violations. A United States annual report said corruption worsened under Mr Buhari.
Mr Buhari denied all allegations of corruption and human rights abuses, but experts said overwhelming evidence of his actions is enough to determine his legacy.
NAN