To justify Alamieyeseigha's pardon, Jonathan commits factual blunders

The Nigerian President repeated pardons for already pardoned people.

In what appears a desperate and hurried move by President Goodluck Jonathan to justify the pardon of his former boss and ex-convict, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, the president introduced names of other Nigerians who had been pardoned by previous governments.

When the Nigeria Council of State met on Tuesday, the president read out a list of some convicted Nigerians whom he would want pardoned.

Sources at the meeting said top on the list read by the president was Mr. Alamieyeseigha, and that “it was clear to all of us that he (Mr. Alamieyeseigha) was the target of the pardon.”

Evidence has now shown that at least three other names pardoned by Mr. Jonathan and the Council had been pardoned by an earlier government.

Repeated names

Among those pardoned by the president are the elder brother to deceased President Umaru Yar Adua, General Shehu Musa Yar Adua, and three former Army officers accused of coup plotting: Oladipo Diya, a former Chief of General Staff; Major-General Abdulkareem Adisa; and Major Fadipe.

General Shehu Yar Adua was pardoned along with President Olusegun Obasanjo by the Abdulsalam Abubakar administration. Sources at the last Tuesday meeting where President Jonathan tabled his list of candidates for pardon spoke of “an obvious and blatant administrative shoddiness that led to this repetition.” The three army Generals who also earned President Jonathan’s pardon had earlier received pardon of clemency from the same Abdulsalam Abubakar administration. The were accused of coup plotting by late Nigerian Head of State, Sani Abacha,. The pardoned was gazetted on March 4, 1999.

Sources say the presidency was blind-sided, with its retinue of aides and assistants, into committing these obvious gaffes because the exercise was hurriedly done, to justify Mr. Alamieyeseigha’s pardon.