Federal government yesterday said it was stopped from carrying out death sentence on condemned prisoners by the ECOWAS Court, even as it assured that it won’t back down on same –sex marriage law.
The government however clarified that while it was ready to respect the judgement, it would nevertheless continue to dialogue with the people on retention or abolition of the death sentence from its statue book.
Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke(SAN) disclosed this while receiving in audience head of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights, Madam Navi Pillay in his office in Abuja.
He said: “Just as I remarked during the review, the issue of death penalty is sensitive in Nigeria, especially taking into account the federal nature of the country.
“Government will take a position as to whether to remove it or not from our statute books after due consultations with the broad spectrum of Nigerian populace.
“I must however observe that the ECOWAS Court of Justice has recently granted an Injunction restraining the Nigerian Government from carrying out the execution of condemned persons and directing the Government to continue to abide by its commitment to the Moratorium against the death penalty.
“We shall respect this order by the Court, even as we continue with our national dialogue on the abolition or retention of the penalty.”
By the country’s political structure, Adoke said death penalty is within the jurisdiction of the various state governments, adding however that Section 33 (1) of the Constitution provides that every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life save in the execution of a sentence of a court in criminal matters.
On the anti same-sex law, he said the “our laws do not criminalise individual sexual orientation. The focus of the Act is therefore discouragement of same-sex marriage which is a reflection of the overwhelming beliefs and cultural values of the Nigerian people as demonstrated by a 2013 Opinion Poll which showed that 92% of Nigerians reject same-sex marriage.”
