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State Pardon: Anti-corruption Crusade Has Collapsed In Nigeria Under APC – Media Watch Group

Published

3 years ago

April 18, 2022

Editor

The Muslim Media Watch Group of Nigeria, MMWG, has condemned in strong terms the state pardon given to former Governors Joshua Dariye of Plateau Stare and Jolly Nyame of Taraba State, saying it’s a sign that the anti-corruption crusade of President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has collapsed.

This was even as it called on the President to rescind his decision on the two former governors and let them complete their jail terms before being considered for any state pardon, recalling that after all, they were not political prisoners but convicts serving different jail terms for criminal and economic crimes.

The group, reacting to the freedom granted the convicted former governors, said it was the worst precedence ever set by any administration in the anti-corruption fight in Nigeria.

MMWG, in a statement signed and released on its behalf by a leading member, Sheikh Abu Sheriff, stated it was a wrong step to grant pardon to those convicted of economic crimes involving billions of naira of taxpayers’ money; noting that such action would give an opportunity to others to commit similar crimes.

It said “by the federal government decision, the anti-corruption fight of this administration has crumbled and corruption has been endorsed as being part of the governing process”, adding that “it would amount to injustice to keep in our Correctional Centres all those who have been jailed for corruption and serving various jail terms but who are not former governors.”

“The fact that these citizens are not elites and political heavy-weights does not mean that they should be kept in prisons all over the country.

“By this singular action of Buhari administration, corruption has been legalised and bad precedence that would encourage corruption has been set. No wonder that bad governance pervades all the 36 states in Nigeria except Borno State where Professor Umara Zulum remains tall as the ‘Best Governor ‘ for his outstanding performance,” the group stated.

According to MMWG, “the past and present governors in Nigeria today believe that there would not be any consequence for their economic crimes against the masses while in office and after they have left, that is why they commit economic crimes while in office”, adding that “now that the two former governors have been released unconditionally without completing their jail terms, the coast is clear for the looting spree to continue.”

The group maintained that the bandwagon effect of the state pardon: “is that justices of the nation’s judiciary would be demoralised as their due judicial processes meant to curb crimes especially corruption are been quashed through political consideration.”

It added that the anti-corruption agencies like the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC would no longer pursue cases of corruption and other economic crimes with much seriousness as they would fear political intervention of this nature.

“Nigeria’s position in the Comity of Nations is gradually descending fastly into anti-peoples governance in which the ruling class past and present are now ‘sacred cows’; while the poor people are punished even for offences they have not committed.

“The repercussions of this bad decision include the slowing down of actions on corruption cases by security agencies in terms of arrest and prosecution of offenders of economic crimes, a situation that would increase the agony of suffering masses as criminal activities can never be abated in such a circumstance,” MMWG further stressed.

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Thousands Protest In Tehran Against Israel

Published

3 hours ago

June 20, 2025

Editor

Thousands of people joined a protest against Israel in the Iranian capital on Friday after weekly prayers, chanting slogans in support of their leaders, images on state television showed.

“This is the Friday of the Iranian nation’s solidarity and resistance across the country,” the news anchor said.

Footage showed protesters in Tehran holding up photographs of commanders killed since the start of the war with Israel, while others waved the flags of Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

“I will sacrifice my life for my leader,” read a protester’s banner, a reference to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

According to state television, protests took place in other cities around the country, including in Tabriz in northwestern Iran and Shiraz in the south.

AFP

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Over 650 Die In Iran After First Week Of Israeli Strikes

Published

3 hours ago

June 20, 2025

Editor

More than 650 people have been killed in Iran following a massive Israeli bombing campaign launched a week ago, an activist group said on Friday.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that 657 people have died and 2,037 have been injured in the nationwide airstrikes.

The Iranian government does not publish daily figures on casualties.

HRANA relies on a broad network of informants and publicly available sources.

The group said the dead include at least 263 civilians and 164 members of the military.

Another 230 fatalities remain unidentified.

The network also reported damage to civilian infrastructure, including a projectile striking a children’s hospital in Tehran, which did not result in any injuries.

In the western province of Ilam, a fire station was damaged, HRANA said, while an Israeli attack on a car factory in western Iran triggered a large fire.

Israel maintains its objective is to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, which it considers an existential threat.

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UK Joins Other Nations In Pulling Embassy Staff From Iran

Published

3 hours ago

June 20, 2025

Editor

Britain on Friday withdrew its embassy staff from Iran, following in the footsteps of other European nations as well as Australia and New Zealand amid the conflict with Israel.

“Due to the current security situation, we have taken the precautionary measure to temporarily withdraw our UK staff from Iran,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

“Our embassy continues to operate remotely,” it added.

On the eighth day of the war between Iran and Israel, the British ministry said it continued to call for de-escalation between the two sides.

But the statement added: “We take the protection of our staff and British nationals extremely seriously and we have long advised against all travel to Iran.”

Earlier Friday, Australia also shuttered its Tehran embassy and ordered officials to leave the country, Sydney said, citing a “deteriorating security situation”.

Both countries join a string of nations closing diplomatic missions in Iran since Israel launched air strikes a week ago, claiming its arch enemy was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon.

Australia has directed all its officials and their dependents to leave Iran, and suspended its Tehran embassy operations, Foreign Minister Penny Wong told a news conference in Adelaide.

“This is not a decision taken lightly. It is a decision based on the deteriorating security environment in Iran,” she said.

Wong said there were about 2,000 Australians and family members registered in Iran who wanted to depart, and another 1,200 in Israel.

Other nations that have suspended Tehran embassy operations include Bulgaria, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Portugal, and Switzerland.

Switzerland said it was temporarily closing its diplomatic mission in the Iranian capital, but would continue to fulfil is role in representing US interests in Iran.

“In view of the intensity of military operations in Iran and the highly unstable situation on the ground, the FDFA has decided to temporarily close the Swiss embassy in Tehran,” the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said.

European powers meanwhile met with Iranian officials in Geneva on Friday, and hoped to offer “a diplomatic solution”, according to French President Emmanuel Macron.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy said “a window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution”, while agreeing with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that “Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon”.

AFP