*Says Governors not willing to sign execution warrant
By Augustine AKPAN
Akwa Ibom Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, has opened up on why Uduak Akpan, the convicted murderer of Miss Iniubong Umoren cannot be hurriedly executed despite the court judgement.
The State Attorney General, Mr. Uko Udom, SAN, made the clarification, Thursday, at Government House, Uyo, when the case of the gruesome murder of Iniubong Umoren that happened sometime in 2020 resurrected on the heels of the presentation of his ministry’s scorecard at the Inter Ministerial Briefing.
Reacting to a question on repeated concerns raised by members of the public on why Uduak Akpan, murderer of Miss Iniubong Umoren was still yet to be executed despite being convicted by the court, Uko said he can “clearly state that the gentleman (Uduak Akpan) who was convicted for murder in Iniubong Umoren’s case has not completed the appellate processes and so he’s not due for execution”.
He went further to give the following explanations to buttress his position maintaining that:
“Under the law, when you are convicted for murder and sentenced to death, mandatorily, you must exhaust all appellate processes.
“So, if the High Court in Uyo sentences you to death, they can’t take you out from that place (the court) to the gallows.
“You must go to the Court off Appeal and must appeal that judgement because life is involved. And if you don’t have a lawyer, the State Government provides a lawyer for you.
“If the Court of Appeal confirms the conviction, you must go to the Supreme Court and until the Supreme Court confirms the conviction, you’re not due for execution”, the Attorney General clarified.
Besides exhausting the appellate processes, Mr. Udom further cited religious inclination, dearth of executioners and the unwillingness of many Governors to sign execution warrant as other factors that make it difficult for convicts to be executed in Nigeria.
“Again, we have a social issue here. Believe it or not, not too many people want to be executioners.
“Most of those awaiting execution who have exhausted their appellate processes are languishing in what they call ‘Death Row’ in Port Harcourt – that’s where they stay and that’s where we used to have the executioners.
“I don’t believe that there are any executioners in Port Harcourt. It is a very difficult thing and the problem we have is that the law as it is, you can only be executed by hanging by your neck until you die.
“You’ll always hear the judge say he hung by the neck until he dies.
“Because the law says that specifically, you cannot be asked to take firing squad or lethal injection. You can only be hung by the neck and these gallows no longer exist in most places”, the Attorney General explained.
He also cited lack of courage by most governors in Nigeria in signing execution warrant as another reason responsible for congestion of correctional centers with convicts.
“Today, there are many Governors in Nigeria who will not sign execution warrant maybe because of religious reasons and so on. Until these issues are addressed, we may still have people awaiting execution in different correctional centers”, the Attorney General submitted
He however offered some glimmer of hope by stating “one of the things we’ve tried to handle is to see if those laws can be changed and new methods of execution being brought about so that we can have execution done”.
The Inter Ministerial Briefing offered the Ministry of Justice the opportunity to present their achievements in the last few years under the ARISE Agenda of Gov. Umo Eno led-administration. Top on the list include the passage of critical bills into law as well as accent being given by the Governor with the aim of fast tracking development trajectories in the state.
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