By Gideon Njoku
Obviously taken aback by the deluge of strong Condemnations which greeted the Presidential Pardon to 175 convicts by President Bola Tinubu, endorsed by the Council of State, on the recommendation of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, headed by the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the Federal Government said on Thursday, October 16, that the list was still under review.
Not a few Nigerians were shocked by the categories of convicts listed. While they agreed that some on the list merited it, there was a collective outrage over some of the names. They included murderers, kidnappers, armed robbers and drug lords.
The outrage was defeaning and attracted condemnations from across the country.
However, on Thursday, the Federal Government, in a statement, emphasised that no convicts, so pardoned, has been released from jail. Meaning that there is no implementation, so far, even for those whose jail terms were reduced.
The process of implementing it, the FG said, is still undergoing final administrative process and being verified. A review of the list of beneficiaries is being carried out before the issuance of formal instruments of release.
The AGF in a statement clarified that although the Council of State had approved the recommendations for clemency, the final stage requires a detailed review to ensure all names comply with legal and procedural standards.
The statement read: “The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice wishes to clarify that no inmate approved for clemency under the recent exercise of the President’s power of prerogative of mercy has been released from custody.
“The process remains at the final administrative stage, which includes a standard review to ensure that all names and recommendations fully comply with established legal and procedural requirements before any instrument of release is issued.”
He, also, said that the issuance of the instrument of implementation is the last phase of the process. Only after that will the Controller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service be authorised to act.
According to him, the final review phase is “standard protocol and demonstrates the government’s commitment to transparency, due diligence, and the rule of law.
“There is no delay in the process; it is simply following the law to the letter to ensure that only those duly qualified benefit from the President’s mercy.
“As soon as all legal and procedural checks are concluded, the public will be duly informed. The rule of law does not rush; it ensures fairness.”
The questions being asked, however, are: “If the list had not been reviewed, why did the President approve? Why was it presented before the Council of State for endorsement? Why did the Presidency make the names public before making sure that all the beneficiaries merited it? Is it possible to withdraw some names after a Presidential approval?
Some of those who benefited from the exercise are a foremost nationalist, Herbert Macaulay, Major General Mamman Vatsa, executed for the 1986 Military Coup D’etat, Farouk Lawan, former Member House of Representatives, jailed for bribery, Ken Saro-Wiwa and his colleagues, executed for the circumstances which led to the gruesome murder of four prominent Ogoni sons, and Maryam Sanda, condemned to death by hanging for the horrific murder of her husband in 2020.
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