Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has defended his criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari for pardoning former Governors Joshua Dariye (Plateau) and Rev. Jolly Nyame (Taraba).
The two former governors, who were convicted and jailed for corruption, got pardon by the National Council of State (NCS) at its meeting on Thursday last week.
He said the decision ridiculed Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade, adding that it was better for the Federal Government to scrap the anti-graft agencies.
According to him, the President had, by the gesture, exposed the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to embarrassment.
Wike, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, spoke at his party’s state secretariat in Kano, as part of his ongoing consultation ahead of the party’s presidential primary.
He was responding to the Presidency’s description of his condemnation of the pardon as “bolekaja” politics, Wike said the pardon should not have happened under a government with an anti-corruption mantra.
The NCS approved a presidential pardon for 159 of 162 Nigerians serving jail terms for various reasons, among whom were the two former governors.
But, repeating his opposition, the Rivers’ helmsman wondered how the Federal Government would explain its inclusion of Dariye and Nyame on the pardon list to the EFCC and ICPC.
He said the amnesty granted to the former governors made the anti-graft agencies irrelevant.
Wike said: “This is the same government that complained against the judiciary that it is not fighting against corruption. Now, look at what the judges have passed through; sleepless nights from the FCT High Court to the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court, everything is wasted.
“If President Muhammadu Buhari knows that he doesn’t want to fight corruption, then, he should disband the EFCC and ICPC because he has thoroughly embarrassed them.
“So, all these things he (Buhari) is doing is because of the election coming soon. They want this person in Plateau State to help them and they want this person in Taraba State to help them. But, it will not work because Wike will face them in that election.”
