Veteran journalist and human rights activist, Richard Akinnola, has absolved President Bola Tinubu of blame over the controversial state pardon granted to some convicts, including those jailed for capital and drug offences.
Akinnola, a former editor at Vanguard newspaper and member of the 2006–2007 Lagos State Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy, said the responsibility for the controversial recommendations lies squarely with the presidential committee under the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) that advised the President.
In a Facebook post on Monday, Akinnola shared his personal experience serving on a similar committee under then governor Bola Tinubu in Lagos State, chaired by legal luminary Funke Aboyade (SAN).
“Between January 2006 and April 2007, l was privileged to be a member of the Advisory Council on the Prerogative of mercy to the Lagos State Governor, under the Chairmanship of Funke Aboyade,” he wrote.
He explained that the committee was responsible for carefully reviewing each case before making recommendations to the governor through the State’s Attorney General.
“We carefully scrutinized applications for the prerogative of mercy and even visited the prison to interview some of the inmates. Our recommendations to the Governor, either to commute death sentences to years of imprisonment or for the release of certain categories of inmates, came after very careful and meticulous considerations,” he said.
According to him, the governor or president typically relies on the committee’s judgment and merely assents to its recommendations out of confidence in their process.
“Normally, a Governor or President merely signs what had been recommended by the committee because of the confidence he has in the committee,” he noted. “Therefore, if there had been errors or inappropriate recommendations for the release of certain inmates, the blame should go to the committee and not the Governor or President, even though the buck stops at their tables and they are vicariously liable to errors of omission or commission by the committee.”
Commenting on the current controversy surrounding the recent state pardon by Tinubu, Akinnola described the committee’s work as “embarrassing and shoddy,” particularly for recommending the release of individuals convicted of serious crimes only a few years after sentencing.
“With due respect to the members, it was a very embarrassing and shoddy exercise by the committee, by recommending the release of some people convicted for serious offences, barely a few years into their conviction,” he stated. “They just embarrassed the President who would not be in a position to know the details of most of the convicts.”
Recall that President Tinubu, on Thursday, approved the release of 175 inmates under the prerogative of mercy, a decision that has sparked widespread criticism following reports that some of the beneficiaries were convicted for drug-related and violent crimes.
Akinnola’s intervention has added a new perspective to the public debate, highlighting the role of the advisory committee in the decision-making process behind presidential pardons.
