Under Section 175 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), the President is empowered to grant clemency\u2014including pardons, reprieves, and commutations\u2014to convicted persons.<\/p>\n
The section states:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe President may\u2026 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.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Such powers are often executed following advice from the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM)<\/strong> and are approved by the Council of State<\/strong>, which includes former presidents, governors, the Chief Justice, and principal federal officers.<\/p>\n For this particular set of pardons, the PACPM had screened over 400 applications but shortlisted 162 names. Out of these, the Council of State approved 159 individuals.<\/p>\n However, what stood out was not the number\u2014but who made the list.<\/p>\n 1. Joshua Dariye<\/strong><\/p>\n Position Held<\/strong>: Former Governor of Plateau State (1999\u20132007)<\/p>\n Conviction<\/strong>: Embezzlement of N1.162 billion in ecological funds<\/p>\n Sentence<\/strong>: 14 years (reduced to 10 by the Court of Appeal)<\/p>\n Year Convicted<\/strong>: 2018<\/p>\n Dariye\u2019s conviction followed a 10-year trial marathon led by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The Supreme Court upheld his conviction in March 2021. Yet less than one year later, he was granted a presidential pardon.<\/p>\n 2. Jolly Nyame<\/strong><\/p>\n Position Held<\/strong>: Former Governor of Taraba State (1999\u20132007)<\/p>\n Conviction<\/strong>: Misappropriation of N1.64 billion in state funds<\/p>\n Sentence<\/strong>: 14 years (reduced to 12)<\/p>\n Year Convicted<\/strong>: 2018<\/p>\n Like Dariye, Nyame\u2019s conviction was hailed as a victory for Nigeria\u2019s anti-corruption institutions, especially given the political weight he carried. His pardon stunned even those within Buhari\u2019s cabinet.<\/p>\n Beyond the governors, the pardon list included ex-soldiers, elderly convicts, and some with terminal illnesses. According to the Ministry of Justice, many of the lesser-known individuals had served significant portions of their sentences and were deemed to pose no further threat to society.<\/p>\n Some unnamed individuals were:<\/p>\n The Ministry insisted that all criteria for pardon\u2014ranging from age to good behavior to medical condition\u2014were carefully followed.<\/p>\n The Presidency was swift to react to the backlash. Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, issued a press release defending the move:<\/p>\n \u201cThe pardons were recommended by the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy. They were not arbitrary. They followed due process.\u201d<\/strong> He also emphasized that Dariye and Nyame were included not because of their status but because of health issues and the amount of time already served.<\/p>\n Attorney General Abubakar Malami reiterated that:<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not out of place to extend mercy to citizens who have shown remorse and served portions of their sentence.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Almost instantly, the decision was met with condemnation:<\/p>\n 1. Civil Society Organizations<\/strong><\/p>\n Groups like SERAP, BudgIT, and Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) described the pardons as \u201ca stab in the back to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n SERAP said in a statement:<\/p>\n \u201cThis pardon sets a terrible precedent and destroys the efforts of the EFCC and judiciary in the war against corruption.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n 2. Legal Practitioners and Analysts<\/strong><\/p>\n Some senior advocates of Nigeria (SANs) admitted that while the move was legal, it undermined the spirit of justice.<\/p>\n Femi Falana, SAN, said:<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no justification, moral or constitutional, for letting off the hook people who looted the commonwealth. It is impunity elevated.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n 3. International Media<\/strong><\/p>\n Al Jazeera, BBC, and Reuters picked up the story, spotlighting Nigeria\u2019s paradoxical position: a country battling to remove itself from global corruption indexes while pardoning convicted looters.<\/p>\n For years, the EFCC, under multiple administrations, worked to rebuild trust in public institutions by aggressively prosecuting powerful figures. The convictions of Dariye and Nyame were held up as flagship victories\u2014proof that no one was untouchable.<\/p>\n With their release, analysts fear:<\/p>\n In 2015, Muhammadu Buhari rode into office on the mantra of fighting corruption. Seven years later, the country witnessed one of the most controversial acts of presidential mercy. Many critics have argued that the pardons erased some of the most significant gains made during Buhari\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n However, a minority of observers argue that:<\/p>\n Still, the optics remain damaging. A president who campaigned on zero tolerance for corruption ended up releasing convicted kleptocrats in his final lap.<\/p>\n Some analysts believe the real motives were political:<\/p>\n 2023 elections were on the horizon<\/strong> Power dynamics within APC<\/strong> National Assembly pressure<\/strong> Presidential pardons are not unique to Nigeria.<\/p>\n However, the global standard typically avoids pardoning officials convicted of economic crimes unless there is overwhelming humanitarian justification\u2014something critics say was lacking in Buhari\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n Buhari\u2019s last-minute pardon list will be remembered as a bold, controversial, and deeply polarizing move. While it legally fits within his presidential rights, the decision has moral, political, and institutional costs that Nigeria will have to grapple with for years.<\/p>\n At a time when citizens were demanding transparency, integrity, and accountability, the state sent a different message: that power still protects its own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the twilight of President Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s administration, a storm erupted across Nigeria when the National Council of State approved a presidential pardon for 159 convicted individuals\u2014most notably, two former state governors who had been convicted and jailed for monumental corruption: Joshua Dariye of Plateau State and Jolly Nyame of Taraba State. These pardons were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":358965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard","override":[{"template":"2","single_blog_custom":"211693","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"1","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_bookmark_settings":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2,4],"tags":[592,3214,2266,679],"class_list":["post-358960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-national","category-politics","tag-efcc","tag-jolly-nyame","tag-joshua-dariye","tag-president-buhari"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Shockers: High-Profile Beneficiaries of Buhari\u2019s Pardon<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/05\/images-248.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/05\/images-193.jpg\")
<\/p>\nOther Beneficiaries: A Mix of the Forgotten and the Powerful<\/h4>\n
\n
Government’s Defense: \u201cIt Was Humanitarian, Not Political\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n\u2014 Garba Shehu<\/p>\nThe Outrage: Civil Society, Legal Experts, and the Nigerian Public React<\/strong><\/h4>\n
The Anti-Corruption Backlash: What Happens to EFCC and ICPC Now?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Buhari\u2019s Anti-Corruption Legacy: Tarnished or Misunderstood?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.withinnigeria.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/05\/Muhammadu-Buhari-2014.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
Politics Behind the Pardons: Was It All Just Calculated?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\nPundits speculate that releasing popular figures like Dariye and Nyame could help consolidate support in northern regions.<\/p>\n
\nBoth men were once major players in the ruling APC and may still hold influence.<\/p>\n
\nThere were rumors that influential lawmakers lobbied for the release of their former mentors.<\/p>\nComparative Perspectives: Do Other Countries Do This?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Final Words: What This Means for Nigeria\u2019s Future<\/strong><\/h4>\n