(US) Embassy to protest a statement credited to the spokeswoman, Deb MacLean, on the embassy’s Twitter account expressing disappointment over the state pardon granted former governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.
The US envoy had reportedly described the state pardon granted the former governor as deeply disappointing.
The embassy was also reported to have described the pardon as ‘‘a setback in the fight against corruption’’ in Nigeria.
Conveying Nigeria’s displeasure via a diplomatic note, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned the comment from the US Embassy in Abuja, which it described as undue interference and meddlesomeness in the internal affairs of Nigeria.
According to the statement in Abuja, the Federal Government noted that “this was not the first time a government in Nigeria or elsewhere would grant state pardon to individuals who have committed one crime or the other”. The statement added that the pardon is “entirely consistent with the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution”.
It expressed the hope that the “Embassy of the United States of America would henceforth desist from making unwarranted comments on Nigeria’s internal affairs which are capable of undermining the friendly relations that exist between them”.
