Nigerians seek constitutional review to enable judges sign death warrants, instead of governors

Some residents of the South-South region of Nigeria have called for a review of the country’s constitution to empower judges to sign death warrants or commute sentences to life imprisonment.

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The respondents from Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Rivers States remarked while reacting to the News Agency of Nigeria survey on why governors refused to sign death warrants.

They said the primary reason governors would not like to sign the warrant was fear of “soiling their hands with blood,” as a political implication.

‘Governors, as humans, think of the pains of victims’ families’

Speaking in Cross River, Linus Obogo, the spokesperson to Governor 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 the judiciary should be responsible for signing death warrants.

Mr Obogo wondered how governors who might not have attended the court proceedings that preceded the judgement would be the ones to sign the death sentence.

According to him, the governor may not even know whether the accused was given a fair hearing before the burden of execution was passed on him or her.

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He expressed his opinion that governors should not have their tenure stained with blood by signing such executions, but should pass this on to their successors.

“The governors, as humans, willingly think of the pain of the victims’ families, and as such, will not want to sign the warrant.

“I think the responsibility should be left to the judges immediately judgements are passed,” he said.

For his part, a legal practitioner, Mba Ukweni, SAN, noted that governors’ refusal to sign death warrants was personal and not a policy they generated.

Mr 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 governors might also weigh the political implications of signing such a warrant and avoid being seen as enemies of the convict’s family, which might affect their political careers.

“However, I think part of the blame should go to the committees on prerogative of mercy in the states, headed by the attorneys general.

“They are the ones who should go to the prisons to know those who should be recommended for mercy and those who 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, McPhalane Ejah, country director of the International Training Research and Advocacy Project, said governors’ reluctance to sign death warrants might be due to 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 the 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 look at that provision again and see if we still need it or if it is an abuse of power by the governors.

Akwa Ibom

Similarly, in Akwa Ibom, 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.

He said, “The law is there, but then, it does not have any compelling provisions that the governor must sign” a death warrant the moment a defendant is sentenced to death.

“I’m sure that is why governors sometimes don’t want to sign or send convicts to a hangman.”

Mr 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 the law did not stipulate a time limit for signing the warrant, so governors might decide to leave it to their successors.

Rivers

Speaking in Rivers, Favour Ruben, the former vice chairperson of the 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 ample opportunity to change.

Mr Ruben said the death penalty law perfectly ensured sanity in society.

“If that will reduce the level of criminality, then it is better,” he said.

However, he said that the root cause of criminality must be addressed first, attributing it to the lack of jobs for the youth. “If there are jobs, crime will reduce,” he added.

READ ALSO: Banditry: Governor vows to sign death warrant of convicted informants

He says, “Crime is just like a fruit on the tree, so when you kill it from the roots, you have freed up other people. So, the root is to be dealt with.”

In his contribution, Prince Wiro, the national coordinator of the Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, called for the abolition of the death penalty in Nigeria.

Mr Wiro stated that the United Nations Charter of Human Rights had also called for the outright abolition of the death sentence and that he supported the call as a human rights advocate.

“Murder is a capital offence, and our practice here in Nigeria is a death sentence, but as human rights advocates, we have keyed into the demands by the United Nations for outright abolition of the death sentence,” he said.

He advocated for life imprisonment instead of a death sentence, saying that the significant challenge in implementing the country’s law was “lack of diligent prosecution.”

Mr Wiro stated that the country needed diligent prosecution to secure sentences up to life imprisonment since the essence of conviction “is to serve as a deterrent to others”.