Chairman of the Senate Committee on FCT, Senator Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi West), Sunday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to give presidential pardon and amnesty for treasury looters .
Melaye in a statement said the looters should be given six months to return public funds or face the full wrath of the law.
“Though an unrepentant advocate for integrity and forthrightness especially from public office holders, l however sincerely want to recommend that Mr. President grant Presidential Amnesty/Pardon to all those who looted our treasury provided they return all proceeds of their loot to the government within six (6) months of the declaration of the Amnesty.
“This, I believe will encourage the voluntary return of the the looted funds, empower the government financially to immediately commence the implementation of projects and programmes that will stimulate the economy and raise the peoples’ standard of living, and save the judiciary and other law enforcement agencies the agony of fruitlessly pursuing the looters in and out of the courtrooms. In the long run, this would be a win-win situation for both the government and people of Nigeria,” he said.
Melaye added that, “At the expiration of the six months’ ‘Moratorium’, all those who failed to comply would then be made to face the reality of aggressive and expeditious prosecution and eventual jail terms for convicts in accordance with the laws of the land”, he said.
He also recommended for the removal of ‘His Excellency and Distinguished’ from the names of President, Vice president, Governors and Senators respectively.
” In this regard, I recommend that henceforth no President, Vice President, Governor, or Deputy Governor should answer the name ‘His Excellency’ until the material condition of ordinary Nigerians has also become ‘Excellent’. No Senator should continue to answer ‘Distinguished’ until the masses of the people begin to experience a distinguished existence and no Federal or state Legislator should wear the badge of ‘Honourable Member’ until the ordinary citizen is himself living a life that can be classified Honourable in every material particular”. – Daily Trust.
Speechless! At a loss for words to even consider this proposal. It makes a mockery of our society. Are we governed by the rule of law or are we a criminal society where politicians are the mafia and are above the law? Were this proposal to be embraced it would simply embolden future looters. Ours is a society that’s underdeveloped and uncivilized for this proposal to even be considered.