Why governors are afraid of signing death warrants – Ganduje

The governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has said governors are afraid of signing death warrants of convicts because they would not want to order the execution and later find out that the person did not deserve to die.

Governors in the country have been criticised for being reluctant to signing death warrants of convicts that have exhausted their legal options, a move that has been identified as contributing to the congestion in correctional facilities across the country.

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But responding to a question in an interview with Trust TV, Governor Ganduje said they were wary of quickly signing the death warrants because the judicial process is “suspicious.”

He recalled an incident involving a former governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, saying, “At one time he signed the warrant and somebody was executed judiciously.  Later on, it was discovered that he was not supposed to have been executed. The judgement was faulty.”

He added that following that incident, governors became more careful about death warrants, adding, “From time to time we sign, but we think that issue should be looked at constitutionally to find out what measures can be put in place so that people are not killed, only to discover later that they were not supposed to have been be killed. And you cannot retrieve the life of any creature.”

In the interview, Governor Ganduje also spoke on why politicians are eager to switch from one party to another, saying it is mainly due to internal crises within the parties. Her added that it is very difficult for parties in Nigeria to be separated based on ideologies.

He noted that at the moment, there is little or no difference between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in terms of ideology, which makes it easy for politicians to switch with ease.  He, however, noted the importance of parties having different ideologies.

“This is not an issue that constitution or government will impose, but one that will evolve. And of course, it is coming. With time, politics is becoming more complicated as people are becoming more enlightened,” he said, adding that in the long run, the electorate would be fed up with politicians switching parties.

The governor also reiterated that he had not anointed any politician in Kano State as his successor, saying  reports in some section of the media  that a candidate had been anointed was purely a “mischief.”

“People in Kano know that we have not anointed any candidate, either for gubernatorial, senatorial or any other position. We are more concerned with governance, up till the time the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will come up with its timetable,” he said.

For the full interview, tune in to Trust TV on Channel 164 on StarTimes at 1pm Monday, September 20, 2021.