Northern Group Begs Buhari to Grant Presidential Pardon to Former Plateau Governor

Presidential Pardon Joshua Dariye

The Movement For A New Arewa, a Northern coalition group, has pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari to grant the former governor of Plateau State Governor, Joshua Dariye, presidential forgiveness.

The group’s National President, Abdulkareem Bayero, and its National Secretary, Abdulahi Musa, made the request in a press statement issued to journalists in Kaduna on Thursday.

In the statement, the group pointed out that Joshua Dariye, who has been in prison since the beginning of the current administration, needs to breathe the fresh air of citizenship.

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The organization emphasized that if the North is to reclaim its former splendor, people like Dariye must be freed from prison and participate in the peace-building process.

Recall that Dariye was found guilty of criminal breach of trust and sentenced to ten years in prison by the Supreme Court in March.

“Peace can only be achievable, if the broken and burnt bridges of friendship, brotherhood and a healing process by all those who have been hurt, injured and aggrieved, among the various ethnic nationalities the likes of Hausa Fulani, Tiv, Birom Gbagyi and others, come together in a round table to discuss the way forward and towards finding a lasting solution to addressing prevailing insecurity that has destroyed the North.

“We must strive by all means to foster and forge unity and peace towards achieving a united north and by extension a united Nigerian as a people,” the group said.