Soonest Nathaniel The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has said that the issue of pa...
Soonest Nathaniel
The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of
Justice, Abubakar Malami, has said that the issue of pardoning the leader of
the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, is premature.
Mr Malami stated this on Wednesday while appearing as a
guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“Pardon is a function of conviction in the Nigerian context
and as far as I know, Nnamdi Kanu has not been convicted yet so the idea of
pardoning him is premature,” the AGF asserted.
Buttressing his point, the minister stated that the trials
associated with Kanu have not been concluded and as such the pardon option cannot
get on the table just yet.
While stressing that he is not ruling the option out,
Malami, however, noted that pardoning Kanu is not on the table at the moment.
Reacting to a question regarding the IPOB leader’s pardon
being an option for peace in the South East, the AGF said he is yet to assess
the security implications of such a decision.
Nonetheless, the Minister of Justice declared that the best
interest of the public would be a major consideration if the opportunity avails
itself for a pardon to be given to the IPOB leader.
Malami’s comments come a few days after leaders from the
South East met with President Muhammadu Buhari to plead for Kanu to be pardoned.
While addressing the leaders, who visited him under the
aegis of Highly Respected Igbo Greats, Buhari said the plea for Kanu’s release
is an extremely difficult demand on him as leader of this country.
The president said, “The implication” is very serious. An
unconditional release of Kanu, who is standing trial, according to the
President, runs contrary to the doctrine of separation of powers between the
executive and judiciary.
Stressing his policy of non-interference with the Judiciary,
he said when Kanu jumped bail, got arrested, and was brought back to the
country.
“I said the best thing was to subject him to the system,”
Buhari added.
President Buhari further stated that Kanu should go make his
case in court instead of giving very negative impressions of the country from
outside.
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