The National Council of State on Thursday approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to grant prerogative of mercy to 175 inmates across correctional facilities in the country.
Naijaonpoint learnt that the decision is aimed at decongesting correctional facilities and promoting restorative justice.
Briefing State House correspondents after the meeting, Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, explained that the Council considered recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy, presented by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
He revealed that 82 inmates were granted a presidential pardon, 65 had their sentences reduced, while seven death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment.
However, he declined to disclose the beneficiaries’ names.
The presidential prerogative of mercy is backed by Section 175 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which empowers the President to pardon, reprieve, or commute sentences on the advice of the committee. Considerations often include age, ill health, good behaviour, or miscarriage of justice.
New Appointments Ratified
The Council of State also endorsed primary national appointments. It approved the nomination of Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN) as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Dr Aminu Yusuf as Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC).
In addition, Alhaji Tonge Beta Bularafa was ratified as the Federal Commissioner representing Yobe State at the NPC.
Speaking to journalists, the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, who also chairs the Progressive Governors’ Forum, described the appointment of Amupitan as a constitutional responsibility diligently discharged by the President.
He said the nomination enjoyed unanimous support, noting, “The new INEC Chairman is a serious-minded scholar, a man of integrity, tested and trusted, who has never participated in partisan politics.”
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