May 03, (THEWILL) – The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has commenced probe on the list of convicted inmates, currently pardoned by President Muhammadu Buhari after approval by the Council of State.
According to TheCable report, senior officials of the ministry of justice have been quizzed by the anti-graft agency over suspicion of corruption in the compilation of the pardon list.
THEWILL recalls that President Buhari approved a prerogative of mercy for 157 convicted inmates, including Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame, two former governors, jailed for corruption, after getting the nod of the Council of State on April 15, 2022.
The Council, made up of the president, vice-president, former heads of state, former chief justices, senate president, speaker, governors and the attorney-general of the federation (AGF).
Based on the recommendation of the presidential prerogative of mercy committee, Buhari submitted names of 162 persons to the council for advice.
However, all except Francis Atuche, former managing director of Bank PHB, and two others were approved.
While the decision for presidential pardon for Dariye and Nyame had generated widespread criticism, sources at the ministry of justice informed TheCable that several aides of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), who were responsible for the processing of the list are currently being investigated by the EFCC.
“Of particular surprise is the inclusion of Atuche on the list that was submitted to the Council of State. There are several names that raised suspicion and the EFCC had to be called in to investigate what went down”, the online media quoted an official of the ministry.
Atuche was, in June 2021, convicted of N25.7 billion fraud and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment to run concurrently for six years.
When the name was presented to the council, it was rejected, supposedly because he had just been convicted and was yet to serve one full year.
“Mrs Leticia Ayoola-Daniels, director of the administration of criminal justice and reforms department under the justice ministry, is also being quizzed by the EFCC”, the source said, adding that those invited have been subjected to lie detector tests “and many of them are failing.”
Some of those quizzed attributed their failure to pass the test to “high blood pressure”, the source further revealed.
