Nigeria inaugurates Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy

The Nigerian Government has inaugurated the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy, PACPM, as a significant step towards promoting justice, rehabilitation and human rights in the country.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, inaugurated the 15-member Committee in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

He said the move was in the spirit of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“Section 175 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) confers special powers of prerogative of mercy on the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This power enables the President to grant pardon to any person convicted of an offence created by an Act of the National Assembly.”

The SGF explained that the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy is an administrative body with the mandate to provide and facilitate a seamless and smooth exercise of the power by the President.

The Committee within its four-year tenure will play a critical role in supporting the dispensation of justice in relation to the decongestion of correctional facilities, particularly in ensuring that eligible and deserving prisoners and ex-convicts are recommended for the consideration of the President.

In his response, Attorney – General of the Federation and Minister of Justice,  who serves as the Chairman assured President Bola Tinubu that the committee would deliver adequately in assisting him to discharge his constitutional responsibility of granting pardon and clemency to convicts or ex-convicts in deserving cases and reintegrating them into the society.

The institutional representative on the Committee are as follows;

*Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice – Chairman

*Permanent Secretary, Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs -Member

*Representative, Nigeria Police Force – Member

*Representative, Nigerian Correctional Service – Member

*Representative, National Human Right Commission – Member

*Representative, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) – Member

*Representative, Christian Association of Nigeria – Member

Other members of the Committee are; Justice Augustine B. Utsaha, Professkr Alkasum Abba, Chief Akinlolu Olujinmi, Professor Nike Y. Sidikat Ijaiya.

The Director, Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs will serve as the Secretary of the Committee.