CLEMENCY
Clemency pronounced as /ˈklɛmənsi/ literally means
mercy or lenience. Clemency is a mechanism for granting a person convicted of a criminal offense relief from a court-ordered sentence or punitive measure. There are two main methods through which clemency can be given— pardon or commutation of sentence.
Clemency is defined as leniency granted for a crime. It is a general term used for the act of reducing the penalties of a crime, similar to a commutation (commuting a sentence means substituting it for a lesser sentence).
It does not necessarily mean that the crime gets overlooked or forgotten. But, in a sense it means the state forgives the crime. A pardon may be full, limited or conditional.
Clemency is commonly called Executive pardon, but it is only just one of its forms. If you receive a pardon, you are always receiving clemency, but if you receive clemency, you are not always receiving a pardon.
Sections 175 and 212 of the Nigerian Constitution grants a prerogative of mercy as a matter of grace, allowing the President or governor of a state to consider a wide range of factors not comprehended in judicial proceedings and sentencing determinations to reduce or pardon the sentencing of a criminal conviction. See Olu Falae v. Obasanjo
On April 14 2022, the Nigeria’s Council of State endorsed the granting of clemency, pardon and prerogative of mercy to 159 out of 162 applications presented to it for consideration at its meeting held in Abuja presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
An application for clemency has to be made by a convict before he can be considered for such.
The Council of States is a high-ranking body constituted by Nigeria’s Constitution, comprising all present and past leaders of the country. It’s an organ saddled with the responsibility of advising the executive arm of government on major critical and sensitive policy decisions and direction, bordering mainly on security and State of the Nation at large. Its members include the President, Vice President, past Presidents, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, as well as the past and serving Chief Justices of Nigeria. Others are the Attorney-General of the Federation, all State Governors as well as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
On August 28, 2018, in the exercise of the powers on the granting of pardon, the President put in place a committee known as the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy 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.
The exercise of the presidential pardon power generates periodic controversies and elicit various reform proposals in Nigeria because the power is often exercised in ways that are clearly at odds with the Nigerian Society’s interest, including granting pardons to facilitate narrow partisan interest and other personal ends.
For example, among the 159 granted clemency, there were two former state governors who were convicted and jailed for stealing public funds.
Nigerians have different views regarding the power of pardon granted by the constitution and some have contention with the provision because Sections 175 and 212 of the Nigerian Constitution that grants the power fails to provide guidelines or standards for exercising the power.
Do tell us your thoughts on the power in the comments section. We will be glad to hear from you.
FROM THE DIRECTORATE OF RESEARCH
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