A Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has called for the scrapping of some federal government agencies.
The agencies include the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC.
According Eze, these agencies have Iost their flavours to political Interferences, stressing that President Bola Tinubu’s presidential pardon of drug barons have further erodes public confidence in statutory Institutions.
The APC chieftain said as long as he remains a member of the ruling party it must be said categorically that Tinubu, by his action, has brought shame and reproach to the party.
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Eze believes that no reasonable person would vote for the APC again as the President has made it unelectable in any election in this country.
Eze said that APC’s return to power in 2027 would mean that Nigerians approve of a regime that legitimizes illegality as a political strategy to sustain its odious reign beyond 2027.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Information and Strategy last week, said in a statement that out of the 175 beneficiaries of the Presidential pardon, 41 illegal miners, 28 drug traffickers and 22 murderers topped the list.
Notable among the 175 beneficiaries are Herbert Macaulay, one of Nigeria’s foremost nationalists; Farouk Lawan, a former member of the house of representatives; Mamman Vatsa, a major general and poet executed in 1986 over alleged treason; and Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death for killing her husband in 2017.
Drug offenders, illegal miners, white-collar convicts, and foreigners are also among the recipients of the presidential pardon.
Reacting through a statement made available to the media, Eze described as inexcusable and unwise, noted that by his action, the President has rendered Ineffective, notable agencies which prosecuted some of the recipients of the prerogative with public funds.
He said institutions like the NDLEA, EFCC and ICPC have become irrelevant and worthless and all the efforts and public resources deployed to convict some of these hardened criminals have gone down the drain simply because the President wanted to show prerogative to some of these criminals
“The release of some of these criminals who will go back to revive their criminal acts is uncalled for. Both the Police and Judges that sentenced and convicted them are now endangered species,” Eze said.
The Obi of Onitsha, His Majesty Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Ugochukwu Achebe had said that “If the president can pardon drug convicts, then there’s no need for NDLEA. No need to arrest thieves or punish anyone again,” while former vice Preaident Atiku Abubakar also condemned the President’s decision.
In the case of the Ogoni Nine, Eze counsels that instead of pardon, the Ogoni Nine should be granted full exoneration, not mercy, would do justice to their legacy.
Eze counsels Mr. President to “formally apologize to Nigerians for this blunder.”
The President should “as a matter of urgency retrieve and review the list of pardonees as advocated by Falana if he doesn’t wants to send a wrong signal,” Eze said.
“As long as [[I] remains a member of APC, it must be said categorically that President Tinubu, by his action, has brought shame and reproach to the party and caused it not to be unelectable in any election in this country.”
