By Muhammadu Sabiu
President Muhammadu Buhari has been chastised for pardoning two former governors who were imprisoned for corruption.
Recall that on Thursday, the Council of State granted 159 convicts presidential pardons, according to reports.
Former governors of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye, and Taraba State, Jolly Nyame, imprisoned for stealing N1.16 billion and N1.6 billion, respectively, were among the released convicts.
However, speaking at the 1st anniversary of late Afenifere’s spokesman, Yinka Odumakin’s Lecture and Book Presentation, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), a human rights campaigner, encouraged the Federal Government to extend the presidential pardon to individuals serving sentences for minor offences. Falana argued that this would reflect fairness and equity for all.
“All petty thieves in our prisons should be released. Under Section 17 of the 1999 Constitution, there shall be equality and equal rights for all citizens.
“Section 42 of the Constitution says there shall be no discrimination on the basis of class and gender, so you cannot take out a few people on the basis that they belong to a category or section of the society.
“I can assure you that if the government did not release others, I am going to call on lawyers whose clients are left in custody to come to court and challenge the discriminatory treatment of their clients,” Mr Falana was partly quoted as saying.
