Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has granted clemency to 12 inmates who were on death row in various correctional facilities in the state.
Additionally, the Governor has converted the death sentences of six other inmates to life imprisonment.
A statement released on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, by the spokesman of Kano Command of the Nigeria Correctional Service, SC Musbahu Lawan Nassarawa, mentioned that the Governor also pardoned four female inmates who had exhibited good behavior and industry, as recommended by the Service.
Furthermore, the governor provided each of the released inmates with a fare of N5,000 to facilitate their reunion with their families.
Nassarawa stated that Abdullahi Garba Rano, the Chairman of the Prerogative of Mercy Committee, and Sulaiman Mohd Inuwa, Controller of Corrections, Kano State Command, expressed gratitude to the governor for utilizing his constitutional authority to release inmates endorsed by the committee and the correctional service based on their good conduct.
Inuwa urged the released inmates to uphold a positive image of the Nigerian Correctional Service in society and refrain from engaging in activities that could lead them back to a life of crime.
The statement revealed that some of the pardoned inmates had been anticipating execution for 25 years.
A 69-year-old inmate, who had awaited execution for 23 years, expressed gratitude to the governor and the correctional service for his own release and that of others.
On the other hand, the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), the main opposition party in the state, alleged in an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari that the governor’s pardon of inmates was a strategy to enlist them as troublemakers during the upcoming gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections.
Responding to the allegation, the Commissioner of Information, Muhammad Garba, refuted the claim, stating that the governor was simply exercising his constitutional authority as advised by the Prerogative of Mercy Committee, and suggested that the NNPP’s assertions were an attempt to deflect attention due to apprehensions about the elections.