EFCC Plans Trial of Three Indicted for Altering Presidential Pardon List

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has concluded plans for the prosecution of three individuals found to have been involved in the alteration of the 2022 presidential pardon list according to reports.

The former Plateau and Taraba Governors – Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame – were among many individuals whose names were on the pardon list.

The three individuals, according to a report of the investigation by the EFCC, were found to have been involved in altering the report of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM) to include the name of a jailed former Managing Director (MD) of a bank, whose case was never considered by the committee.

The EFCC report however exonerated the Acting Director of the Administration of Criminal Justice and Reforms Department (ACJRD), Mrs. Leticia Ayoola-Daniels and another official of the Federal Ministry of Justice.

The three individuals indicted in the EFCC report are a senior official in the secretariat of the PACPM, an Assistant Chief State Counsel in the Federal Ministry of Justice and an agent of the former bank MD.

The EFCC’s investigation was informed by a June 6, 2022 letter from the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) requesting the probe of members of the PACPM over allegations of conspiracy, abuse of office, bribery and corruption.

The AGF had constituted the PACPM to collate applications in respected cases of people in custody or who have served jail terms, which are deserving of presidential pardon and prerogative of mercy, and advise President Muhammadu Buhari accordingly.

The PACPM concluded its assignment and submitted a report which was presented to President Buhari and the Council of State on April 14, 2022.

The report was later found to have been altered to include the name of the jailed former Managing Director of a bank, who was not among the names recommended for pardon.

According to the EFCC’s report, dated July 2027, an investigation revealed that a member of PACPM secretariat and an Assistant Chief State Counsel in the Federal Ministry of Justice got money from an agent of the jailed banker to insert his name on the list.

“Efforts are in top gear to arrest the other co-conspirators and upon the conclusion of the investigation, the case file will subsequently be forwarded to our legal and prosecution department for vetting and prosecution,” the EFCC report stated.