2015: ALAMS BROUGHT IN TO COUNTER AMAECHI

An allegation that the Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Aiyebeni
Ogiadomhe, must have included the names of some prominent northern and southern
ex-convicts on the list hurriedly presented to the Council of State, in a
desperate move to sell the State Pardon for Chief Alamieyeseigha. The blunder
is in the fact that Jonathan included the names of those who had been granted
state pardon on July 14, 1998 by the General Abdulsalami Abubakar’s regime on
the list of seven ex-convicts who were pardoned last Tuesday. 
Apart from Alamieyeseigha, the president also  granted the state pardon to
a former Chief of General Staff, General Oladipo Diya; former Chief of Staff,
Supreme Military Council, Major-General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua; Major Bello
Magaji; Mohammed Lima Biu; former Managing Director of the Bank of the North
(now Unity Bank Plc), Alhaji Shettima Bulama; Major-General Abdulkareem Adisa
and Major Segun Fadipe.
In order to argue away the blunder at the Presidency, Dr Abati attempted
yesterday to distinguish between “clemency” and “pardon.” While some of the
ex-convicts were granted State pardon in 1998, others, including General
Oladipo Diya, who has been granted pardon now, actually enjoyed clemency in the
1999 Presidential Prerogative of mercy. In spite of the say-nothing argument,
the late Shehu Yar’adua was actually granted State pardon. Why was his name on
the list presented to the Council of State last week?
Malam Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, a former Permanent Secretary described what happened
as embarrassing. According to him, “It is obvious that something had gone
wrong, either with the public service entirely or with a presidency that does
not even want to wait until it is advised by public officers who would say, it
is okay to grant pardon to these people. 
Something somewhere went wrong and it is tragic for the nation. It is also
embarrassing for the government. Above all, what this tells you is that there
is fundamental problem in how the public service is being run today.”
Findings by Sunday Trust showed that there were indications that the process of
granting the pardon did not follow the ‘due process.’ It was last Monday that
the supposed Bayelsa Traditional Rulers Council submitted a request for its
former governor to be granted state pardon. It was on that same Monday that the
agenda for the Council of State meeting was sent out to members of the
respected body. The meeting was to hold in about 24 hours after the traditional
council submitted its request. That meant it was by miracle that the process
for granting state pardon was completed. 
What is that process?  First, those who want to be granted pardon shall
apply to government for it. Secondly, the request would be sent to a committee
headed by the Attorney-General of the Federation to look at the requests. 
Thirdly, that committee would meet, deliberate on it and make recommendations
to the President. After going through it, the President would take it to the
Council of State for deliberation and approval, before the pardon is granted.
Our reporter severally called the Attorney-General of the Federation Mohammed
Adoke (SAN) to find out if this process was followed, but he didn’t pick his
calls. A text message was sent and delivered to his mobile phone, but he didn’t
respond to it. However, it is doubtful if this process was completed before the
Council of State met to ratify the list last Tuesday.
Since the odd decision last Tuesday, noises from the Presidency have been so
loud that some of valid questions raised above are being shut out. Dr Abati,
arguing from the books, made copious reference to Section 175 of the Nigerian
Constitution which gave President Jonathan the powers to grant pardon at his
pleasure. The section in Sub-section (1) says “The President may – 
(a) Grant any person concerned with or convicted of any offence created by an
Act of the National Assembly a pardon, either free or subject to lawful
conditions; 
(b) Grant to any person a respite, either for an indefinite or for a specified
period, of the execution of any punishment imposed on that person for such an
offence; 
(c) Substitute a less severe form of punishment for any punishment imposed on
that person for such an offence; or
(d) Remit the whole or any part of any punishment imposed on that person for
such an offence or of any penalty or forfeiture otherwise due to the State on
account of such an offence.
Sub-Section (2) The powers of the President under subsection (1) of this
section shall be exercised by him after consultation with the Council of State. 
Sub-Section (3) The President, acting in accordance with the advice of the
Council of State, may exercise his powers under subsection (1) of this section
in relation to persons concerned with offences against the army, naval or
air-force law or convicted or sentenced by a court-martial.”
On his part, Dr Okupe has harped on the economic benefits of granting state
pardon to Alamieyeseigha. And he found succor in the hackneyed reference to the
flow of oil in the Niger Delta which has made it possible for Nigeria to export
2.4 million barrels of crude oil per day from the region. In addition, he has
been imposing an argument that former American President Bill Clinton had
granted his brother, Marc Rich, who had been charged for cheating the US to the
tune of $50 million in 1983. He further made allusion to previous state pardon
granted to other Nigerians accused of committing offences against the State.
But it is apparent that the significance pardon granted the former governor of
Bayelsa State is smoother than rhetoric.

BEYOND PARDON FOR
ALAMIEYESEIGHA
In a tweet which reacted to remarks by a columnist with ThisDay, Simon
Kolawole, that the pardon for Alamieyeseigha had 2015 strategy connotation, Dr
Abati rebuffed his friend. He argued in his tweet thus: “This administration
does not want to get involved in the distraction called 2015.” In another, Dr
Abati said, “The pardon can’t be reduced to the absurd level of emotionalism.”
A third tweet which justifies the inclusion on the names of Oladipo Diya,
Abdukareem Adisa, and Major A. A. Fadipe on the list of those granted pardon
says: “pardon restores the corporal rights which clemency doesn’t (stating the
case of General Diya). When he later appeared on Sunrise programme of Channels
Television, Dr Abati re-emphasised this position that elevates pardon above
clemency. 
He told the discussants that state pardon “restores corporal rights. What do I
mean by corporal rights? It simply means that that person has been reintegrated
into society.”  By implication, Chief Alamieyeseigha can participate
actively in the political activities ahead of 2015 with more vigor and
confidence. And this is the point in granting the former governor state pardon. 
But Chief Fred Agbaje, a Lagos-based constitutional lawyer, though in
disagreement with Dr Abati’s distinction between clemency and pardon, said the
game in granting Alams pardon was in pursuit of 2015. According to him,
“Whether clemency or pardon it is the same thing. They both emanated from
Section 175 of the Constitution with the president/head of state playing active
roles with the Council of State. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan granted Alemeisiegha
pardon because of political consideration and 2015 election. Period!”
For instance, when in 1998 General Obasanjo was granted state pardon, he was
cleansed for the race for the presidency, which he won in 1999. Also, when the
late Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu was granted state pardon by the Shagari
administration, he joined the political fray and even contested for the
presidency in 2003. Also, General Abdulkareem Adisa, who was granted clemency,
participated actively in the activities of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
until his death in a London hospital in 2005. On his part, General Oladipo
Diya, who was also granted clemency has remained in the cold, rarely raising up
his head above social functions and church activities, he is actively engaged
in legal practice in the South-West. 
President Jonathan stands to benefit immensely from the stature and capacity of
his former boss to stabilize the chequered support for his 2015 ambition in the
Niger Delta region. A Niger Delta political analyst told Sunday Trust last
night that, “Alams is the onlypolitician from the Niger Delta that has the
clout to unify the region behind President Jonathan. Chief Edwin Clark, Elder
Peter Godsday Orubebe, and Chief Mike Aiyebeni Ogiadomhe, and the militants
have no followers. They’re just opportunists. And, you may not know, the battle
between Governor Rotimi Amaechi and the president over 2015 is real.  The
only person who can break the ranks of Governor Amaechi and mobilize support
for Jonathan is Chief Alams. So by granting him state pardon, the president is
reviving his own political machinery ahead of the battle of 2015.” 
Incidentally, a cross-section of Niger Delta political activists have declared
their support for what Jonathan has done. For instance, Chief Sara Anabs Igba,
a prominent Ijaw leader told Sunday Trust in an interview that, “Alamieyeigha,
as far as I am concerned is a very prominent son of Niger Delta. 
He is the Governor General of Ijaw Nation. He is a stabilizing force towards
the peace we are enjoying now in the region. When he was governor, he did
everything possible to ensure there was peace in Niger Delta. Any time there is
a problem, he intervenes and whenever he speaks the youths and those making
trouble listened to him. Even out of office, he still plays roles in restoring
peace in Niger Delta. 
The role he played during the amnesty programme cannot be wished away. There is
now an increase in the volume of crude oil production in Niger Delta. This is
because the youths have laid down their arms and Alams is one of those that
restored peace in our land. So the pardon granted him by Federal Government is
a right step in the right direction.”

OTHER QUESTIONS AFTER THE
PARDON
President Jonathan may have scored a political goal with the pardon, but
questions continue to trail his victory. First, why were the majority of former
heads of state absent? For instance, General Ibrahim Babangida, Chief Olusegun
Obasanjo, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, and General Muhammadu Buhari did not
attend the Council of State meeting. The only ones in attendance were the
regular past leaders who answered Jonathan’s calls even at odd hours. 
They included General Yakubu Gowon, Chief Ernest Shonekan and Alhaji Shehu
Shagari. Also, most state governors were absent, and only few former Chief
Justices of Nigeria were there. Did the other politically-active former rulers
keep away from the Council of State meeting because they didn’t want to be seen
as endorsing what many have termed a selfish political project?
Secondly, did the families of those granted post-humous pardons make any
request for it? 
The answer is “No.” For one, a younger brother of the late General Shehu Musa
Yar’adua, Alhaji Abdulazeez Musa Yar’adua, told Sunday Trust in an interview
that the family was embarrassed at the pardon, mainly because the late Yar’adua
had, in 1998, been granted pardon. He told our reporter that the family did not
ask the presidency to grant their brother any form of reprieve. “We wondered
how the presidency allowed itself to be misguided by the officials handling the
pardon issues. The presidency should have checked the record before the
information went to the public; I am sure the record are there,” he added.
Also, in interviews with the families of the late Major-General Abdulkareem
Adisa, our reporter gathered that the pardon was unexpected because they never
asked for one. When Sunday Trust went to the residence of a former Managing
Director of the Bank of the North (now Unity Bank Plc), Alhaji Shettima Bulama,
for his comments on being granted amnesty, the man declined to comment. He did
not show any excitement at being pardoned after being convicted by the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for committing fraud at the bank where
he was Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
A former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Mr
Nuhu Ribadu has described the state pardon granted to the former governor of
Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, as tragedy in the country’s history.
Ribadu, in a brief interview in Abuja, said the decision was ‘seriously’
shaking the very foundation of fighting corruption in Nigeria.
He said, “By regular court, not military tribunal, the DSP case was the first
political office holder in the rank of a governor that was ever convicted. The
Bulama case was the first Managing Director of a bank that was convicted. It’s
very significant and it was the beginning and the foundation for a proper fight
against corruption in our country. Now that the government will come, the
President in particular will come and overturn that and give them pardon, it is
seriously shaking the very foundation of fighting corruption in our country.
“It’s a very sad development and I’m very unhappy because I’m a Nigerian. I’m
very concerned. I’m worried about our country. Corruption is destroying this
country. Corruption will lead us to lose Nigeria as a country. Any step taken
to reverse the direction of fighting corruption is a tragedy in our history
today.
“I led those cases. I got the convictions. I know what it took us to achieve
that. I know what it means to Nigeria. I know the international communities are
seriously worried and concerned because they were also involved in these cases.
I therefore feel extremely sad.
“There are also things that we have done. Personally I, as a Nigerian and as an
individual, right now we are waiting for the President to implement the report
of the Petroleum Revenue Committee, nothing has been done for six months. Now,
it’s only for me to wake up and see this, even the case that we did in the past
has been reversed. It’s very sad,” Ribadu said

Source: Daily Trust