Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has described the Nigerian judiciary as a joke to President Muhammadu Buhari following the state pardon granted to two former governors convicted of corruption.
The President had granted the pardon to former Governors Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame of Plateau and Taraba States – who are serving jail terms for corruption – and 157 others.
Wike stated this in Minna, the Niger State capital, on Saturday while meeting delegates of the Peoples Democratic Party ahead of the party’s presidential primaries.
The presidential aspirant accused Buhari of promoting selective anti-corruption war due to the 2023 election, while describing the state pardon as a “disservice to the judiciary”.
“I want to tell you that this government is very deceptive and they have deceived us enough. You have big people, you jail them after all the court proceedings and waste of money then you ridicule the judiciary and by granting them pardon.
“How will the international community look at us with these type of things we do. Look at the amount spent in the prosecutions and you wake up one morning and mess it up all because of politics.
“He obviously wants them to help him during the elections, he wants Dariye to help with Plateau while Nyame will work for Taraba, ” Wike alleged.