Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State on Tuesday granted pardon to six convicts serving jail terms for various criminal offences in the state.

The governor granted the pardon following a report by Asma’u Mukhtar, the chairperson of the State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy and the state’s attorney-general.

While receiving the report, Mr Masari said, “In order not to waste time, I will sign this today. If somebody is to be freed today, it is better he is free today than tomorrow.”

The governor also directed Ms Mukhtar to liaise with his wife, Hadiza Masari, to free those with minor offences through her Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) or with the state chief judge, Musa Danladi-Abubakar.

Earlier, Ms Mukhtar said section 212 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, gave the governor the powers to grant pardon or respite to convicts for offences created by the laws of Katsina State.

“We recommended six convicts for a pardon based on various considerations. One of them, for example, is certified to have developed mental illness. So, we recommended a pardon for him to enable his family to take care of him.

“We also recommended a pardon for a 69-year-old, who has spent over 24 years in custody and is paralysed. There is another 76-year-old one; he is sick and spent 25 years in prison.”

According to the attorney-general, two others serving 24 years jail terms had eight months to conclude their sentences.

“We also recommended reduction of sentence of 11 convicts to various terms, some from death to life, some from 30 years to 25 or 15 years,” she said. 

(NAN)