ABUJA — Northern leaders have disagreed with the federal and state governments over amnesty being granted to terrorists who have turned the region into a killing field.
The leaders’ angst is coming against the backdrop of plans by Katsina State governor, Dikko Radda, to grant amnesty to 70 terrorists, as part of an agreement reached between the state government and terrorists terrorising the state and other parts of the north.
The anger of the northern leaders was accentuated by the position of the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, on the matter, as Special Adviser to the President (Communications and Publicity) in the AGF’s office, Mr Kamarudeen Ogundele, yesterday gave vent to governors’ powers to grant such a pardon.
”Governors have constitutional powers to grant pardon, if the terrorists were prosecuted by their respective states,” Ogundele said in a terse reaction sent to Vanguard yesterday.
The AGF’s position was corroborated by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, Lawal Pedro, SAN, who reiterated that governors had powers to grant such pardon but noted that in exercising the power, they (governors) should consider public opinion, public policy and how people would feel.
He said: ”Clemency is a constitutional power granted to governors, and it has no limitation or restriction with respect to offences, whether it’s terrorism, murder or any offence whatsoever.
”But in the exercise of that power, the governor is expected to consider public opinion and public policy and how the people will feel.
”He can exercise that power at his discretion based on that consideration. For instance, in Lagos, our policy on clemency is that we don’t consider pardon for people convicted of sexual offences.
”There is nothing in the law that stops us from granting them amnesty, but because of the prevalence of sexual offences, our policy is not to grant convicted sexual offenders clemency so as not to encourage other offenders.
”In the case of terrorism, too, I will expect governors not to grant amnesty to convicted terrorists so that I will not send the wrong signal.”
