Dino Melaye Seeks Presidential Pardon for Treasury Looters

Dino Melaye Seeks Presidential Pardon for Treasury Looters

Senator Dino Melaye is in the news again, and this time, he’s calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to grant presidential pardon and amnesty to looters of the nation’s treasury, Vanguard writes.

The controversial lawmaker, who’d earlier called on President Buhari to “start acting and stop barking” in the fight to salvage the economy, says such a measure would encourage the return of looted funds to help infrastructural development.

In a statement Sunday, Melaye said: “Though an unrepentant advocate for integrity and forthrightness especially from public office holders, I 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 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.”

According to the senator, “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.”

Naturally, he strayed to less pertinent issues, suggesting that the titles ‘His Excellency and Distinguished’ be removed from the names of President, Vice president, Governors and Senators respectively.

“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 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.”

You just get the feeling his colleagues in the Senate may ask him to speak for himself with regards to dropping the title ‘honourable’.