Bala Mohammed, governor of Bauchi, says he will soon start
to sign death warrants.
Mohammed spoke on Friday in Bauchi while signing the
Violence against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) bill and a bill for the
establishment of the Bauchi state penal code, into law.
In Nigeria, state governors are legally backed to sign the
death warrants.
Since 2012, no governor has been reported to have signed death warrants.
In July, Rauf Aregbesola, minister of interior, called on
governors to sign death warrants in order to decongest prisons.
However, many civil society organisations (CSOs) had
disagreed with minister, saying death penalty should be replaced with long-term
imprisonment.
Speaking on the death warrants, the Bauchi governor said
some governors are refusing to sign on the basis of the possibility of
erroneously condemning a person to death.
“We will soon be
signing some death sentences because there are many and because of justice
which has to be taken to a logical conclusion,” NAN quoted the governor as
saying.
“I know some governors are running away from signing the
death sentences because they exercise restraints on the basis that there may be
some element of error.
“But to me, I will leave it to my lord (the chief judge) who
will prosecute. It’s not my fault. If it is brought to my attention, I will do
it.”
“As for the Violence against Persons Prohibition Act, we
know that we are the first in the northern part of the country to enact the
law, which is a member’s bill incidentally from the honourable speaker, and it
has earned us a lot of respect in the country.
“But because of some
noticed gaps, it was taken back and it was corrected. We thank the house for
making the corrections.”
Meanwhile, Mohammed’s comment comes amid the recent position
by Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano, who had promised to sign the death
warrant of a suspect if the latter was convicted for killing a five-year-old in
the state.
A high court in Kano state had, in July, sentenced
Abdulmalik Tanko, the self-confessed killer of Hanifa Abubakar, the
five-year-old girl, to death.
It is, however, not clear if the convict appealed the
court’s decision.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com