Kaduna governor grants clemency to 27 inmates for Independence anniversary

Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani has granted clemency to 27 inmates serving sentences in correctional facilities across the state, as part of activities marking Nigeria’s 66th Independence anniversary. The state Commissioner for Information and Culture, Ahmed Maiyaki, announced the exercise in a statement issued on Friday. He said more than 500 inmates had benefited from the governor’s prerogative of mercy since Sani assumed office in 2023.

The programme has also included the payment of fines and compensation amounting to more than N300m for victims during the same period, according to the statement. The latest beneficiaries were not individually identified in the supplied material. Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice James Kanyip said the exercise reflected the governor’s practice of extending mercy to deserving inmates during major national occasions.

Similar interventions had been carried out during New Year, Democracy Day and earlier Independence Day celebrations, he said. Kanyip said decisions were taken through established processes that considered accountability, rehabilitation and the responsibilities attached to freedom. He said beneficiaries were expected to return to society with a renewed sense of responsibility and regard for their obligations to others.

The justice commissioner said the intervention was not restricted to releasing inmates. It also addressed financial barriers preventing eligible prisoners from regaining their freedom, with fines and compensation payments giving the programme a restorative justice element. Kanyip said public safety, human dignity, rehabilitation and the possibility of redemption should inform the administration of justice.

Maiyaki added that the state would continue supporting rehabilitation, reconciliation and the reintegration of deserving inmates into their families and communities.