Attorney General to EFCC: Tambuwal Pardoned Five Persons Indicted by Commission of Inquiry

Mohammed Aminu in Sokoto

Sokoto State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Suleiman Usman (SAN), thursday expressed dismay at the way the fight against corruption has been reduced to a personal battle, saying Tambuwal granted pardon to five persons in respect to their indictment by the commission of inquiry set up by his predecessor in 2009.

Usman spoke against the backdrop of the appeal by the EFCC, challenging the power of the governor for pardoning five defendants including two serving commissioner in his cabinet, Alhaji Tukur Alkali, who is the Commissioner for Animal Health and Fisheries Development, Commissioner for Home Affairs, Isa Achida; the Chairman, Governing Board, National Commission for Colleges of Education, Alhaji Maigari Dingyadi; the member representing Isa constituency at the House of Assembly, Alhaji Habibu Modachi; and a Permanent Secretary, Isah Bello.

Speaking with THISDAY in Sokoto yesterday, Usman described as untrue the reports in one of the dailies (not THISDAY) that Tambuwal granted pardon to those persons who were charged to court by the EFCC.

He explained that Tambuwal granted pardon to those people in respect of offences they were alleged to have committed against the laws of Sokoto State.

“You see, they were indicted by the Aminu Ahmad Commission of Inquiry. They sought for pardon for that indictment and the governor did that.

“They went and used that pardon in the court by filing it and arguing that even the case is covered. And the court ruled and discharged them. So, the state government has nothing to do with that.

“In fact, they were not the only ones that were pardoned. The first person that was pardoned from that Commission of Inquiry was Bello Sifawa by former Governor Aliyu Wamakko. It is only this one that was made an issue.

“You can now see the way the fight against corruption has been reduced to a personal fight simply because somebody somewhere does not like Tambuwal or because of his rising profile and want to use the media to humiliate him.

“That is why at the end of the day the hope and expectations of the public will be raised by the news but by the time the real thing commences, everything will just collapse. And people will think that the judiciary has been compromised. In the judiciary, everything is in the open and that is not the way the EFCC operates,” Suleiman said.
He attributed the lack of progress in the fight against corruption in the country, to the inability of the federal government to involve the judiciary.

He said only an independent judiciary would be able to combat the menace of financial misappropriation in the public service.

“If the judiciary is independent, if it is given what it needs, you do not need to lose sleep over fight against corruption. The reason the present administration is finding it difficult in its strategy in the fight against corruption, is the non involvement of the judiciary in the first place.

“The legal profession was abandoned. It is the public service especially the administrators that are the culprits and the ones that relegated lawyers and the legal profession to the background. When their matters come up they are not being attended to. So, how can they risk their lives when they don’t get the desired and necessary encouragement?

“How can the judiciary fight corruption when there is no security of tenure? That is why the western nations progressed because most of their leaders are lawyers. They understand the need to build strong institutions,” he added.