Nigeria pardons corrupt ex-governor
2013-03-13 12:19
-
Nigeria
How Ethnic Rivalry and Religious Fundamentalism Threatens Africa's Most Populous Nation
Was R342.95
Now R308.66
buy now
Lagos - A presidential adviser says Nigeria has pardoned the former political benefactor of the nation's president, convicted of stealing millions of dollars while serving as a state governor.
Adviser Doyin Okupe said on Wednesday that Nigeria's Council of States, a group headed by President Goodluck Jonathan, had approved the pardon for former Bayelsa state Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.
The decision, made in a closed-door meeting Tuesday, was greeted by outrage across Nigeria, an oil-rich nation long considered by activists as having one of the world's most corrupt governments.
Nuhu Ribadu, a former police officer and corruption fighter in Nigeria, told The Associated Press that the decision was "the final nail" in the coffin for fighting graft in the country.
- AP
