Human Rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has demanded apology from Prince Lateef Fagbemi, Minister of Justice, over the presidential pardon list saga.

Daily Trust reports that Fagbemi, who chaired the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM), was criticised over the controversy that trailed the initial pardon list.

In the list released earlier in October, the presidency announced that based on the recommendation of the committee and nod of the Council of State, some convicts, who were on death sentence, life imprisonment, for murder, drug trafficking, illegal mining among others, had been granted clemency.

This had triggered backlash and generated outrage across the country.

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar had said clemency granted to people convicted of serious offences weakened public faith in the criminal-justice system and “emboldens criminality.”

Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary of the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC), had described the move as an abuse of the presidential power of mercy, adding that it is “a national disgrace”.

Different human right groups and various associations had also commented on the development.

Amid the controversy, Fagbemi said the list was under review, emphasising that none of the convicts had been released.

Subsequently, some persons were dropped from the list while the death sentence of some of them were commuted.

Speaking on the issue during an ARISE TV interview, Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said the exercise was mishandled.

“Those who were convicted under state laws found their way on that list. By virtue of section 212 of the constitution, only the governor of a state can pardon people convicted for stealing, obtaining by false pretences, murder, or culpable homicide.”

“The government owes itself a duty to ensure that such colossal embarrassment does not occur again.

“The only way you can do that is to take some actions to teach some lessons and to let the whole country know that… we have to apologise for embarrassing the country.

“The very least the Honourable AGF can do is to apologise. It is not enough to say that we are going to review the list and now we have reviewed it. That is all. No! It’s not done that way.” (Daily Trust)