By Adebisi Adeyemi, Lagos
Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, has pardoned 21 convicts on the occasion of Nigeria’s 57th independence anniversary celebrations.
A statement issued in Ibadan on Saturday by the Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy, Mr. Yomi Layinka, said the development was exercise of the governor’s power of prerogative of mercy, pursuant to the provisions of section 212 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
According to the statement, seven persons were granted release from prison, having spent varying terms of their sentences, while 13 others had their death sentences reduced to a term of years, having spend considerable terms in prison.
The statement further stated that one person had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment.
“The records of the benefitting convicts suggest that they have undergone reforms while some of them have, while in incarceration, passed their General Certificate of Education (GCE) examinations and obtained first degree certificates from the National Open University.
“Some of them are also at varying stages of completion of their degree courses in different courses at NOUN,’’ it said.
The statement expressed the hope that the governor’s gesture would be reciprocated by the beneficiaries by maintaining good conduct and ensuring that they became useful to themselves and the society at large.
