The federal government is on course to grant presidential pardon to convicts serving various jail terms across custodial centres in the country.
To achieve the objective, the government inaugurated the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM), with the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), as chairman.
Our correspondent recalls that on April 14, 2022, the National Council of State under former President Muhammadu Buhari granted state pardon to former governors Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame of Plateau and Taraba states respectively, who were serving terms in jail for corruption.
The governors were among 159 prisoners pardoned by the council at a meeting presided over by the former President Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja.
But speaking in Abuja during the inauguration of the new 11-man committee, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Senator George Akume, stated that Section 175 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) places special powers of prerogative of mercy on the President.
According to Akume, this power enables the president to grant pardon to any person convicted of an offence created by an Act of the National Assembly.
“The committee has a four year tenure and its membership drawn from relevant line ministries, departments and agencies as well as representatives of religious bodies, and four eminent Nigerians,” Akume said.
He stat d that the institutional representative on the committee are Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chairman; Permanent Secretary, Special Duties and Inter- Governmental Affairs; representative, Nigeria Police Force; representative, Nigerian Correctional Service; Representative, National Human Right Commission; Representative, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and representative, Christian Association of Nigeria.
Other members of the committee include Justice Augustine B. Utsaha, Prof. Alkasum Abba, Chief Akinlolu Olujinmi, SAN; Prof. (Mrs) Nike Sidikat Ijaiya; while the Director, Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs is the Secretary of the committee.
“It is important to reiterate that the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice will serve as the Chairman of the Committee, while the Secretariat of the Committee is domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs where the Director in charge of Special Duties in the ministry serves as the Secretary.
“The committee will play a critical role in supporting the dispensation of justice in relation to the decongestion of correctional facilities, particularly in ensuring that eligible and deserving prisoners and ex-convicts are recommended for the consideration of the president.
“In the spirit of the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President, the Prerogative of Mercy is therefore, a vital component of a just and compassionate society, providing a safeguard against injustice and promoting rehabilitation and human rights,” Akume said.
He expressed hope that the committee will justify the confidence reposed in it and worked assiduously towards achieving the purpose for which it is constituted.
Speaking later, AGF Fagbemi, stated that the major mandate of the committee is that of assisting Mr President in the discharge his constitutional responsibility of granting pardon and clemency to convicts or ex-convicts in deserving cases and reintegrating them into the society geared towards decongesting correctional centres.
He explained that by virtue of section 175(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the President may— (a) grant any person concerned with or convicted of any offence created by an Act of the National Assembly a pardon, either free or subject to lawful conditions; (b) grant to any person a respite, either for an indefinite or for a specified period of the execution of any punishment imposed on that person for such an offence; (c) substitute a less severe form of any punishment imposed on that person for such an offence; or (d) remit the whole or any part of any punishment imposed on the person for such an offence or of any penalty or forfeiture otherwise due to the State on account of such an offence.
“In carrying out this important assignment, the committee members may be required to visit correctional facilities in various states of the Federation, cutting across the six Geo-political zones of the country, beginning from where the last exercise ended to critically appraise and identify potential cases of convicts and ex-convicts towards recommending them for Presidential pardon or clemency as appropriate.
“Already, my office has been inundated with applications for presidential pardon and clemency. We are to look into these applications and advice on their merits as appropriate.
“We assure Nigerians that we will carry our assignment objectively in the public interest and the interest of justice. We must also state that our assignment is in no way a review of the decisions of the courts but a discharge of a mandate imposed on Mr President by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” said Fagbemi.
