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Human Rights activist and fiery lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, SAN, has taken a swipe at President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Council of State over the clemency granted former Taraba State Governor Revd. Jolly Nyame and his Plateau State counterpart Joshua Dariye who were among 157 others serving various jail terms over corruption charges.
Falana said the Buhari administration can as well free all prisoners who have been jailed or stealing as there ought not to be selective application of the power of clemency for any criminal.
Falana said this while speaking as the guest lecturer at the event marking the one year remembrance of late Afenifere spokesman Oluyinka Odumakinand the launching of the Yinka Odumakin Foundation, held at the Sheraton Lagos Hotel, ikeja, Lagos State.
The council of State had on Thursday, granted state pardon to Revd. Jolly Nyame, who was jailed for corruption after the expiration of his tenure as the Governor of Taraba State between 1999 and 2007.
Falana stated that it is stated in Section 17 of the 1999 constitution that citizens are entitled to equal rights and opportunities and so the state pardn shold be extended to all prison inmates nationwide who are serving terms for stealing.
Speaking about restructuring of the country, Falana said that the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should be referred to as Decree 24, of 1999as it was not duly signed. He added that the constitution should be seen as a decree which is fraudulent adding that it is an illegal document and should not be accorded any legitimacy.
“What the National Assembly has been doing is amending illegality,” he said.
“The so called 1999 constitution is really decree 24 of 1999. When you see the so called constitution, you will not see the signature of the man who signed the law, that is the fraud. When you see a law, the name of the person who signed it will be set out with date.
“Decree 24 of 1999 was promulgated by Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, on the 5th of May 1999, but today, you will not see his name on it and the date he appended his signature to the document. It is a fraudulent document in every material particular.
“The decree was imposed on us by the last set of military dictators in Nigeria headed by Gen. Abubakar and because that document is okay for members of the ruling class, regardless of their political parties, ethnic, regional or religious inclinations they are all comfortable with the document so that they can continue to rule. They can’t do anything about it, including all those who we are campaigning today to be president.
“They want to retain the status quo and perhaps adjust it here and there. So those who are contesting particularly on the platform of the ruling party are saying they are going to continue the programme of the Buhari administration that has put our country in serious crisis. Nigeria has become a huge joke in the comity of nations and so for any set of people to say they want to package this rickety vehicle and begin to panel beat it its not going to move.
“When they are talking continuity, it can only be continuity of disaster, continuity of injustice, continuity of insecurity and continuity of corruption. They are pardoning themselves right now, The same man who said he came to fight corruption has been granting pardon to people who were convicted for stealing billions of Naira. My reaction s that all thieves and other criminals in our prisons should be released.
“Under section 17 of their constitution, it says there shall be equal rights for all citizens and section 42 there says there shall be no discrimination on the basis of class, gender, whatever, so you cannot take out two people and leave the rest there. In particular, the government has been prohibited from conferring advantages on any group of citizens to the exclusion of others in the same category.
“If the government doesnt release others I am going to suggest to lawyers whose clients are likely to be left in prison to go to court and challenge the discriminatory treatment meted out to them as what is good for the goose is good for the gander.
“If you want to pardon your friends, you must also extend the presidential pardon to all thieves because if the big thieves are being asked to walk away, we must also extend it to others including the petty thieves jaile for stealing spaghetti and nodles to feed themselves.
Falana urged state governments to set up panels of lawyers to challenge the Federal Government over issues that affect the effective running of their affairs, which the Federal Government has usurped.
Halana said the greatest honour that could be paid to the memory of Yinka Odumakin is to keep the battle for horizontal and vertical restructuring so that the powers devolved from the centre will be democratised and exercised by the masses of our people.
Yinka Odumakin was a Nigerian human rights activist and politician and businessman, who until his death on April 2021 was the national publicity secretary of the pan Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere.
