Kano State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, M. A. Lawal, has said that nothing will stop Kano State governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, not to fullfil his promise by signing the death warrant on the convicted killers of a five- year-olf schoolgirl, Hanifa, as soon as legal processes on their conviction were completed.
The Attorney-General, who spoke in Kano on the State government’s next line of action over the legal position taken by the trial judge, Justice Usman Na’aba, however, explained that the two convicts have rights to seek appeal against the Lower Court’s judgement.
“The court had sentenced two of the accused to death by hanging and the Governor has promised to sign the death warrant, so we are waiting for the 90 days period for appeal before he does the needful,” he explained.
He said the Constitution has allowed the convicts rights of appeal within a window of about three-month.
“Remember when this trial started, we promised Nigerians the commitment to prosecute the case to its logical conclusion and we’ve delivered on that,” the AG added.
Recall that Justice Na’aba of Kano State High Court had last week convicted Tanko Abdulmalik, the prime suspect in Hanifa’s murder and his accomplice, having found the duo guilty of kidnapping and murder of the five-year-old Kano schoolgirl, Hanifa.
They were consequently sentenced to death by hanging.
Similarly, the court further convicted Abddulmalik and his accomplice to five years jail term for guilty of other three charges in the counts.
However, the third accused person, Fatima Musa, was sentenced to two years imprisonment for guilty of criminal conspiracy and attempted kidnapping.
The Attorney General added, “In six months, the trial judge concluded the case. This is commendable. So if there is appeal, we would remind the public that government is ready for the appeal at any given time.
“For people raising questions on whether the judgement would be executed or not, all I can say is the law is the law. We would wait for after the 90 days grace of appeal. If they appeal, fine, we would equally swing to action and if they do not, as soon as the waiting period expired the governor will do the needful.”
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