The Federal Government has responded to the criticisms that greeted the Presidential Prerogative of Mercy recently exercised by President Bola Tinubu, saying the process is still undergoing final administrative review.
According to the government, none of the convicts granted pardon by the president has been released.
Following approval by the Council of State, Tinubu recently granted clemency to Sir Herbert Macaulay and 174 others.
Among the beneficiaries are notable figures such as Ken Saro-Wiwa, an Ogoni environmental activist, and Major General Mamman Vatsa, who was executed in 1986 for allegedly plotting a coup.
But many had condemned the granting of pardon to murderers, notorious kidnappers and drug barons.
The pardon list also includes Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death in 2020 for killing her husband.
However, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, in a statement on Thursday, explained that the exercise remains at the stage of verifying and reviewing the list of beneficiaries before the issuance of formal instruments of release.
“The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice wishes to clarify that no inmate approved for clemency under the recent exercise of the President’s power of prerogative of mercy has been released from custody.
“The process remains at the final administrative stage, which includes a standard review to ensure that all names and recommendations fully comply with established legal and procedural requirements before any instrument of release is issued,” the statement read.
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