Warrant
The residents of South-South region of Nigeria have urged the judges to sign death warrants or commute sentences to life imprisonment, calling for review of the constitutional provision.
The respondents from Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Rivers made the remark while reacting to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) survey on why governors refused to sign death warrants.
They said that the major reasons why governors would not like to sign the warrant was fear of soiling their hands with blood and political implications.
Speaking in Cross River, Mr Linus Obogo, Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Gov. Bassey Otu of the state, called for a constitutional review on the matter.
He added that the judgements, when passed, should not depend on the governors for implementation, arguing that signing death warrants should be the responsibility of the judiciary.
Obogo wondered how governors who might not have attended the court proceedings that preceded the judgement would be the one to sign the death sentence.
According to him, the governor may not even know whether or not the accused was given a fair hearing before the burden of execution was passed on him or her.
He expressed his opinion that the governors should not have their tenure be stained with blood by signing such executions but should pass it on to their successors.
‘’The governors, as humans, willingly think of the pains of the victims’ families as such will not want to sign the warrant.
“I think the responsibility should be left for the judges immediately the judgments are passed,” he said.
On his part, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Mba Ukweni, noted that the refusal of governors to sign death warrants was personal and not a policy they generated.
Ukweni said the governors just felt that they should not get their hands soiled with someone’s blood otherwise, ‘’there is no law that encourages them to do so.’’
He said that the governors also might weigh the political implications of signing such warrant and avoid being seen as an enemies of the convict’s family which might affect their political career.
“However, I think part of the blame should go to the committees on prerogative of mercy in the states, headed by the attorney generals of the states.
“They are the ones who should go to the prisons to know those that should be recommended for mercy and those that should be recommended for execution.
‘’If this is not done, it will be difficult for the governor to just sign a death warrant after a court judgement,” he maintained.
Similarly, Dr Mcphalane Ejah, Country Director International Training Research and Advocacy Project, said the reluctance of governors to sign death warrants might be due the convict’s relationship or the offence.
He added that since humans could not give life, he who takes life should also pay with his life, which is the Foundation of death sentence in the Nigerian constitution.
He called for the review of the constitutional provision if it was no longer effective as the governors refused to sign death warrants.
According to him, all we need to do is to look at that provision again and see if we still need it or if it is an abuse of power by the governors.
Similarly, in Akwa Ibom, Mr Eyibio Okon, a legal practitioner in Uyo, stated that the law did not compel the governors to sign death warrants for the execution of convicts in the country.
He said that the ‘’law is there but then, it does not have any compelling provisions that the governor must sign’’ a death warrant the moment the defendant was sentenced to death.
According to him, I’m sure that is why governors sometimes don’t want to sign or send convicts to a hangman.
Okon attributed the governors’ reluctance to the issue of morality as they might believe that by signing the death warrant, they were directly involved in the death of a human being.
He said that the law did not stipulate the time limit for the signing of the warrant and as such, governors might decide to leave it for their predecessors.
Speaking in Rivers, Favour Ruben, the former Vice Chairman of Labour Party in the state, said that the governors might not sign the death warrant due to the different perspectives on the issue.
According to him, they may be reasoning that killing their citizens may not be the best, but giving them the ample opportunity to change.
Ruben, who said death penalty law was perfect for the societal sanity, added that the law, in his opinion, ‘’is perfect, because we need sanity.
‘’If that will reduce the level of criminality, then it is better” he said.
He, however, said that the root cause of criminality must be addressed first, attributing it to lack of job creation by government since ‘’if there are jobs, crime will reduce.’’
According to him, crime is just like a fruit on the tree, so when you kill them from the roots, then you have free up other people; so the root is to be dealt with.
In his contribution, Mr Prince Wiro, National Coordinator, Center for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, disagreed with the death sentence and called for its outright abolishment in Nigeria.
Also Read:Drug traffickers to face death’ penalty-Senate
18 sitting governors under investigation — EFCC
Tipper knocks woman to death on Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway
I’ll sign death warrant of Hanifa’s killer, Says Ganduje
Boost your Val with your FirstMonie Wallet’s bonus data, airtime
Wiro stated that the United Nations Charter of Human Rights had also called for the outright abolishment of the death sentence, and as a human rights advocate, he supported the call.
‘’Murder is a capital offence, and our practice here in Nigeria is death sentence, but as human rights, we have keyed into the demands by United Nations for outright abolishment of that death sentence,” he said.
He advocated for life imprisonment instead of death sentence, saying that the major challenge in implementing the country’s law was ‘’lack of diligent prosecution.’’
Wiro stated that the country needed diligent prosecution that could secure sentences up to life imprisonment since the essence of conviction ‘’is to serve as deterrent to others.’’(NAN)
