Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy has granted clemency and pardon to 159 Nigerians convicted for various offences.
Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami stated this on Thursday after the Council of State meeting presided over by the President Muhammadu Buhari.
Malami did not name the beneficiaries of the state pardon but there are unconfirmed reports to that two former governors who were convicted and jailed for corruption, Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame, of Plateau and Taraba states, respectively, were among those that were pardoned.
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According to Malami, the Council of State endorsed 159 out of 162 convicts that were recommended for clemency and advised the president to grant them pardon and mercy.
Malami said, “In the exercise of the powers on the granting of pardon, precisely on August 28, 2018, the President put in place a committee known as the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy.
“It was saddled with the responsibility of visiting the country’s correctional facilities and making recommendations to the President on the exercise of his power of mercy and compassion, to either grant pardon to those that had been convicted, clemency, or some other form of concessions by way of reduction in sentence and term.
“It was in the exercise of such duties and responsibility in line with the terms of the Committee on Prerogative of Mercy that we presented the report to the President and the requirements of the law on the exercise of that mercy and pardon, should seek the advice of the Council of State.
