Why governors can’t grant amnesty to terrorists– Lawyers

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

ABUJA– Senior legal practitioners in the country on Tuesday described the granting of amnesty to terrorists by state governors as an anomaly.

In separate interviews with Vanguard, the lawyers maintained that no portion of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, conferred such powers on governors.

They were unanimous in their stance that terrorism, being a federal offence, fell outside the scope of powers of state governors.

According to a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Kunle Edun, “Terrorism is a federal crime under the Terrorism (Prevention & Prohibition) Act, 2022, which is a federal legislation passed by the National Assembly.”

He said: “State governments lack the power to grant amnesty, pardon or any form of reprieve to any person arrested, charged, prosecuted or convicted for any offence relating to terrorism, particularly if the person was prosecuted pursuant to the Terrorism Prevention & Prohibition Act.

“The Federal Government through the appropriate federal security agencies has the power to take over such matter and the suspects from the State government and deal with it as a federal crime.”

Mr. Edun’s position was affirmed by another lawyer, Olugbenga Ephraim, who noted that though governors could pardon offenders, he said such exercise of power was limited to only state offences.

“It is a constitutional anathema for anyone to contemplate that a state governor has the powers to grant amnesty to terrorists.

“There is no doubt that governors hold powers of prerogative of mercy under section 212 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.  The section allows them to pardon, respite, substitute punishment, or remit penalties.

“However, such powers are only applicable to offences that are created by state laws. A governor cannot grant amnesty to terrorists.

“Terrorism is a federal offence that is governed by federal laws like the Terrorism (Prevention) Act. Therefore, the prosecution of suspected insurgents or bandits squarely falls within the remit of the federal government, not states,” he added.

On his part, Nasiru Suleiman, an Abuja-based lawyer, argued that governors could pardon suspected terrorists who have not been charged to court.

“There is no portion of the 1999 Constitution that allows any governor to pardon convicted terrorists.

“However, if the suspected terrorists have not been charged to court, a governor, as the Chief Security Officer of his state, can deploy any legal means to tackle all forms of insecurity within his territory. This may include the carrot and stick approach.

“But once it concerns a terrorism charge or conviction, no governor or Attorney-General of a state can intervene in such a case, let alone grant amnesty to anyone,” he argued.

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