Ex-gov Jang begs Buhari to pardon Dariye, Nyame

A former Governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang and the Senator representing Plateau North, Istifanus Gyang, on Sunday, appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to grant presidential pardon to the ex-governor of the state, Joshua Dariye, who is currently serving a prison term.

The duo made the call at the finals of the Plateau North Peace, Unity and Reconciliation Football Tournament held in Jos, the state capital.

They also urged the President to pardon the former Governor of Taraba State, Jolly Nyame.

The two ex-governors are serving jail terms for corruption.

The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Gudu, Abuja, on June 12, 2018, sentenced Dariye to 14 years’ imprisonment for a criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of N1.6 billion while he was governor of Plateau State.

But the Court of Appeal, Abuja, reduced the sentence to 10 years in November of the same year.

The same court sentenced Nyame to 14 years’ imprisonment on May 30, 2018.

However, the sentence was reduced to 12 years by the Appeal Court in November 2018.

Jang said: “I want to plead with President Muhammadu Buhari to grant our son, Senator Joshua Dariye pardon so that he can come back and join us.

“I’m speaking as a leader from Plateau and as an elder statesman in this country, that it is time we plead with President Buhari that he should grant our son, Chief Joshua Dariye pardon.

“I also want to take this opportunity to ask the representative of the Senate President, Senator Gabriel Suswam, to carry this message.

As you know, Benue and Plateau are neighbours to Taraba; and we want to ask that while we plead for Dariye, we are also pleading for the former Governor of Taraba State, Jolly Nyame, that he too be granted an executive pardon.”

On his part, Gyang added: “We from Plateau North are appealing to the President that given the recent judgment by the Supreme Court that has absolved Senator Dariye of criminal misappropriation, and that on health grounds, he has been battling with his health.

“And therefore, we are appealing to the President, that on compassionate grounds, Senator Dariye should be granted an executive pardon.”

Lil Wayne gets 11th hour Trump pardon.

Lil Wayne is among the recipients of a slew of pardons being issued by President Trump just hours before the commander in chief leaves office.

The “6 Foot 7 Foot” rapper had faced up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to a federal firearm charge last year. The entertainer, born Dwayne Carter, Jr., was charged in 2019 with illegally carrying a loaded handgun while traveling from California to Florida.

Trump’s pardon comes after he met with Lil Wayne last year.

The 38-year-old performer revealed he had a “great meeting” with Trump in October, saying the two discussed the president’s proposed “Platinum Plan” to help the Black community. A photo of the pair, showing Trump giving a thumbs up next to the grinning rapper, raised eyebrows when Lil Wayne tweeted it following their face-to-face.

Trump has been criticized for forgoing the traditional process and wielding his pardon power to help prominent supporters of his, as well as those with famous connections.

In 2018, he granted clemency to Alice Johnson following a meeting with reality TV star and criminal justice reform advocate Kim Kardashian West in the Oval Office. Johnson had been serving a life sentence for a drug offense. The president issued Johnson a full pardon after she delivered remarks at the 2020 Republican National Convention.

Trump plans to offer last minute pardon to over 100 people —Report

Reports say outgoing President of the United States, Donald Trump, is expected to offer pardon to more than 100 Americans as his tenure winds down on Wednesday, January 20, when President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in.

According to Washington Post, Trump had, on Sunday, held a “meeting with his daughter Ivanka, son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and other aides to discuss possible pardons and commutations.”

At the meeting, Trump reportedly mooted the idea of granting widespread pardons or commutting of sentences of more than 100 people in his final hours in office, and could announce the decisions today, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.

One of the sources said Trump and other aides spent a significant portion of the meeting reviewing a long list of pardon requests, as well as lingering questions about their appeals

“The president was personally engaged with the details of specific cases.

“In the past few weeks, the President has been particularly consumed with the question of whether to issue preemptive pardons to his adult children, top aides and himself,” the source said.

The other source who was present at the meeting said Presidential aides no longer expect a preemptive self-pardon or pardons for any family members, but the situation could always change with a “volatile and mercurial president like Trump.”

“Neither President Trump nor his children have been charged with crimes, and they are not known to be under federal investigation.

But the question of a presidential self-pardon has become more urgent and controversial since the January 6 storming of the Capitol by Trump’s supporters.”

Trump has been besieged by lobbyists and lawyers for well-heeled clients who are seeking to have their criminal convictions pardoned, as well as by advocates for criminal justice reform who argue that their clients were wrongly convicted or were given unfair sentences and deserve to be freed from prison.

While some aides believe Trump could face criminal liability for inciting the crowd, others think a self-pardon, never before attempted by a president, would be of dubious constitutionality, which could anger Senate Republicans preparing to serve as key jurors at Trump’s impeachment trial and would amount to an admission of guilt that could be used against him in potential civil litigation related to the Capitol attacks.

One person who is said to be under consideration for a pardon is rapper and music executive, Lil Wayne, who was charged with carrying a loaded handgun from California to Florida on his private jet.

He was barred from owning the gun because of past felony convictions, including a weapons charge.

Lil Wayne later met with Trump and posed for photos five days before the November 3, 2020 election, and in the process, got sticks from other musicians and activists for posting the photo to social media and crediting Trump with helping the Black community.

So far, Trump has granted pardon to 94 people, mostly friends and political allies, including 49 in the week before Christmas.

They have included people convicted in the special counsel investigation that dominated his first two years in office, such as his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and longtime confidant Roger Stone.

Just before Thanksgiving, Trump pardoned Michael Flynn, who had briefly served as his first national security adviser and later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during its investigation of Russian interference in Trump’s 2016 election win.

Other pardons issued in the closing weeks of Trump’s time in office have gone to Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, as well as three Republican former members of Congress and four military contractors involved in the killing of unarmed civilians during the Iraq War.

Funke Akindele-Bello and Husband Abdulrasheed Bello pardoned by Lagos state Governor

Lagos State Government on Friday said Nollywood actress Funke Akindele her husband, Abdulrasheed Bello have been pardoned for their breach of COVID-19 protocol.


The state ministry of justice commissioner Moyosore Onigbanjo in a statement said Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu also approved the release of 56 inmates from various correctional centres and granted state pardon to Funke and her husband who are both non-custodial convicts for offences related to the disobedience of COVID-19 lockdown regulations.

Onigbanjo said Sanwo-Olu acted based on the recommendations of the State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy, under the powers conferred on the Governor by Section 212 (1) & (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.the couple in April had been convicted and sentenced to 14 days of community service.

The attorney-general enjoined the beneficiaries to be good citizens and stay away from crime.