Sir Steve Adehi, President Association of Papal Knights and Medalists in Nigeria, at an event
The joint action group of the Association of Papal Knights & Medalists in Nigeria and Order of the Knights of St. Mulumba Nigeria a coaliation of Catholic Knights in Nigeria has expressed concern over the exercise of the prerogative of mercy as enshrined in Sec 175 of the 1999 Constitution by President Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
In as much as the Constitution vests the exercise of the Powers on the President, we are of the view that such powers should not be exercised in a manner that will bring the office of the President to ridicule. We consider the exercise of such powers as a very serious and heavy responsibility on the shoulders of the President which should be exercised with high level of seriousness and not just for political, tribal and class expediency.
The recent exercise of the prerogative of mercy by the President was done without Consideration to the overall interest and well-being of the Nation.
We are re-assured by the explanation of the Attorney General of the Federation who has said that the list of beneficiaries is being reviewed and look forward to the Government redeeming its image arising from the wrong use of the powers to benefit criminals and political party loyalists.
We are also re-assured by the reaction of Nigerians which is a clear indications that they can stand up to the Government.
A look at the statistics will reveal that among those listed for pardon are 70 Drug dealers, 60 Economic Crime offenders, 30 Financial Crimes offenders and 25 Violent Crimes offender. All those listed are rich and well connected while on the other hand, the poor are wallowing in remand and awaiting trial list for upward of 10 years for petty crimes that can not attract sentences for the number of years spent awaiting trial. The Government should be more compassionate to the poor.
Apart from the impression it gives that the rich are above the law, it is also a source of concern as this move is likely to affect the moral of our law enforcement agencies which took a lot of investigations, planning and reasonable time in Court to get conviction for this criminals. The judicial officers who presided over their trials and convictions are also in danger.
We urge Government to make a complete review of the list, improve the conditions of our Correctional Facilities, make Justice affordable to the poor and rich alike and give poor citizens the assurance that they equally matter in the scheme of things. We also urge Government to embark on a review of our laws to bring them up to standard in line with prevailing realities.
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