Bayelsa: APC Running Mate’s Ex-Convict Status Clarified

Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) has confirmed that the Bayelsa State All Progressives Congress (APC) deputy governorship candidate, Mr Joshua MacIver, was granted Presidential amnesty by late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

The confirmation was contained in a letter dated 2nd of February, 2022 from the Office of the Comptroller General of the service and made available to newsmen in Yenagoa.

The letter signed by the Controller General of Corrections, Haliru Nababa, said that prior to the amnesty, MacIver was serving a prison sentence in Kaduna Prisons.

He said that with amnesty granted MacIver, he was no longer under any legal obligation to continue to serve his prison sentence.

The letter reads: “This is to confirm that Mr. Joshua MacIver who was serving a prison sentence in Kaduna Prisons following his conviction in Charge No. PHC/KD/119C/2004 Federal Republic of Nigeria Vs Joshua MacIver on the 27th of February, 2006 was granted amnesty alongside other Niger Delta militants by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, GCFR.

“This was pursuant to the Amnesty Proclamation dated the 25th of June, 2009 in exercise of the powers vested on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under Section 175 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“He is, therefore, no longer under any legal obligation to continue to serve the prison sentence.”

Recall that a female governorship aspirant of the APC, Isikima Johnson, who also participated and lost the party’s governorship primaries to the eventual winner, Chief Timipre Sylva, is challenging the eligibility of Maciver.

She had sought his disqualification as the party’s running mate on the alleged grounds that he was an ex-convict who was sentenced to a 10-year prison term for terrorism and sea piracy but escaped from prison without completing his sentence.

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