The Federal Government has received over three hundred applications from convicts seeking pardon and clemency through the Ministry of Justice.
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami stated this during a meeting with the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy in Abuja.
In a keynote address, Mr. Malami remarked that the Federal Government in 2018, constituted the Committee; and in March 2020, President Buhari approved the implementation that urgent measures should be taken to decongest custodial centers as part of the measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Senator George Akume, however, warned the committee to be mindful of the kind of convicts it would recommend for a presidential pardon to avoid releasing unrepentant criminals into the society.
Reporting by Ifeoma Nwovu; Editing by Abdullahi Lamino