Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State yesterday pardoned 12 prisoners in the state.
Chairman of the State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy,
Professor Oyelowo Oyewo, told newsmen that the release of the inmates
was in line with the commitment of the present administration to the
ideals of the justice sector reforms through prison decongestion.
The inmates who had spent between 20 and 34-years at the Kirikiri
Maximum Security Prison, Apapa were said to have satisfied basic
conditions and are ready to contribute meaningfully to the society.
Oyewo said the exercise was in pursuant to the provisions of the 1999
Constitution (as amended) which permits the Governor to exercise
prerogative of mercy, and also to offer hope to such inmates who had
demonstrated capacity to be taken back into the society.
“The Advisory Council On Prerogative of Mercy is established under
the Laws of Lagos State pursuant to the powers of the Governor under the
Constitution to exercise prerogative of mercy. The Council meets to
consider applications for the exercise of prerogative of mercy that is
forwarded through the Nigerian Prisons authority,” he said.
“Basically, in exercising this, there are guidelines that are set and
some of these include looking at the period that has been served by the
inmates and for hard capital offences, such inmates must have served
for a sufficient period of time and the reason is that the Council in
the guidelines try to balance various interests such as that of the
community, the family of the victims and also the interest of the
administration of criminal justice and justice reform to ensure that
prisoners are reformed and rehabilitated.
“It also includes transformation in the life of the prisoner because
there must be remorse and acknowledgment of the fact that something
wrong had been done and then the prisoner must also have acquired some
skills to show that he is ready to be rehabilitated into the society,”
Oyewo added.