State pardon: You are playing ‘Bolekaja politics’, Garba Shehu hits back at Wike

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu has accused Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike of playing bad politics with the state pardon granted by National Council of State to former Governors Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame.

The former Plateau and Taraba state governors were successfully prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission for over 12 years in cases of corruption where the now pardoned former state helmsmen were convicted by the Federal High Court and the conviction upheld by appellate courts.

Governor Wike in his reaction to the state pardon yesterday in Minna during a political visit to Peoples Democratic Party delegates accused President Muhammadu Buhari of killing the judiciary and deceiving Nigerians with what he called “selective fight against corruption” adding that Buhari pardoned the two former governors because of 2023 general elections so that both men can help the All Progressives Congress win election in their respective states.

Responding to Wike via his official Facebook page, the presidential spokesman accused Governor Wike of bad faith and indecorous politics over his criticism of the decision of the National Council of State which also has state governors as members.

The Council was constitutionally empowered to take the decision at its last meeting to pardon over 150 Nigerians who applied for the Presidential pardon under the prerogative of mercy as entrenched in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.

Shehu noted that Wike got the invitation to attend the NCS meeting where he could have opposed and argued against the decision on record but failed to attend saying that even his deputy that joined the NCS meeting via zoom switched off her camera which made it difficult to know whether she sat through the entire duration of the meeting.

Read the full Facebook post by Shehu:

“I do not see the moral justification for Governor Wike’s criticism of the decision of the government to pardon Governors Dariye and Nyame at a meeting to which he was duly invited but did not attend.

The Rivers State Deputy Governor, Dr. Ipalibo Banigo who joined the Council of State meeting virtually switched off her camera so it was difficult to determine whether she sat behind the dark screen or just walked away after first joining.

“If the governor felt so strongly about the pardons, the right thing was for him or his representative to sit through the meeting and assert views. This he did not do. A press release after the meeting is bolekaja politics.”