Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed of Bauchi State has granted an executive pardon to 153 inmates and empowered them with the sum of N7.6 million for business.
Addressing the pardoned inmates, who were selected from different correctional centres at the Government House, Bauchi State, Governor Bala said the decision to pardon the inmates was informed by a careful review of their records by the Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, and the ex-inmates determination to become good citizens that would be useful to themselves and the society.
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He said part of the criteria adopted by the Committee in coming up with the list of pardoned convicts include old age, terminal sickness, convicts having less than three months to complete their jail term and those who were to pay their victims compensation of less than N30,000.
The governor said granting the pardon to the inmates was part of his administration’s resolve and determination to ensure the decongestion of correctional centres across the state, and promised that as the administration cares about the poorest and most vulnerable people, it will ensure total justice reforms for equity and justice to all.
On his part, the Controller of the Bauchi State Correctional Service, Aliyu Abubakar Bagoja, who described the pardon of the inmates as the best way of reducing decongestion in correctional centres, said the number of the governor’s executive pardons is one of the largest in the country.
The Controller appealed for more equipment for the vocational and technical units in the centre.
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