by Joachim MacEbong

The internet, like the elephant, never forgets. So, given the events at the Council of State meeting yesterday, a trip down memory lane is in order:

‘Alamiyeseigha, a man who until now was known and addressed as His Excellency, has shown himself to be a dishonourable fellow, unfit to rule, unfit to sit among men and women of honour and integrity, unfit to preach to the people that he leads about ideals cand values.’

That was part of an article written by Reuben Abati in November 2005, after ‘Alams’ made a daring escape from the UK, where he was held for money laundering, and jumping bail to return to Nigeria. The self-appointed ‘Governor General of the Ijaw nation’ was Bayelsa governor at the time, and President Goodluck Jonathan was his deputy. The fortunes of both men soon went in opposite directions. While Alams was convicted of embezzlement and remains a wanted man in the UK, Jonathan went on to become President. In December last year, the President acknowledged Alamieyeseigha as his political benefactor, and has now exercised his ‘prerogative of mercy’ in favour of his former boss by granting him a presidential pardon.

Section 175 of the 1999 Constitution confers on the President the right to grant pardon for convicts:

The president may:

(a) grant any person concerned with or convicted of any offence created by an Act of the National Assembly a pardon, either free or subject to lawful conditions states as follows:

(b) grant to any person a respite, either for an indefinite or for a specified period, of the execution of any punishment imposed on that person for such an offence;

(c) substitute a less severe form of punishment for any punishment imposed on that person for such an offence; or

(d) remit the whole or any part of any punishment imposed on that person for such an offence or of any penalty or forfeiture otherwise due to the State on account of such an offence.

While it is clearly a lawful action, the problem is in the motive, and the kind of signals it sends to the nation. Granting a pardon to Alamieyeseigha, one of the few public officials to have actually been convicted of corruption, puts a final end to any pretence this government may have made to fighting corruption. It further reinforces the feeling that corruption does indeed pay, and that at the most, you only need to wait a little while before returning to public life like nothing happened, only forfeiting a fraction of your ill-gotten wealth along the way.

President Jonathan is very likely to reap political reward from this, or may have already done so, as he continues to put together a base for the 2015 elections. It also makes possible a return to public office for Alams in 2015, perhaps in the Senate, which is entirely dependent on the people of Bayelsa among whom he is very popular.

With a full 2 years before the elections, the thinking may be to give it enough time for the public to forget about the pardon, but it may still backfire. On September 8, 1974, Gerald Ford, who took over from Richard Nixon after the Watergate scandal, granted his predecessor a full pardon enabling him to avoid trial. Even though Ford came into the Presidency with high approval ratings, that singular act tarnished him to the extent that he lost his bid to win to become president in November 1976.

Goodluck Jonathan does not have the same standing in public perception that he did prior to the partial removal of fuel subsidy in January last year, and actions like this make him less popular. A single opposition candidate will put him under significant pressure at the polls. More than ever before, he is there for the taking.

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