FG Inaugurates Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The federal government has inaugurated the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM), as a significant step towards promoting justice, rehabilitation, and human rights in Nigeria.

According to a statement by Director Information & Public Relations, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Segun Imohiosen, the 15-member committee was inaugurated yesterday by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. George Akume, in the spirit of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The statement quoted Akume as saying that: “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.”

He described the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy as an administrative body with the mandate to provide and facilitate a seamless and smooth exercise of power by the President.

The institutional representatives 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 and

Representative, Christian Association of Nigeria – Member.

Other members of the Committee are:

Justice Augustine B. Utsaha, Prof. Alkasum Abba, Chief Akinlolu Olujinmi, CON, SAN

Prof. (Mrs) Nike Y. Sidikat Ijaiya and Director, Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs, to serve as Secretary.

The OSGF also disclosed that PACPM within its four-year tenure would 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, the chairman of the committee, the AGF and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, assured the President that the committee would deliver adequately and assist the president to discharge his constitutional responsibility of granting pardon and clemency to convicts or ex-convicts in deserving cases and reintegrating them into the society.