THE JURISPRUDENCE OF AMNESTY IN NIGERIA VIS-À-VIS NIGERIA’S INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS

Abstract

From 2009 till date, the word ‘amnesty’ had been a household cliché in Nigeria. The aspirations of government to use amnesty to pacify dissident groups within the country had raised a lot of concerns and controversies. Also, in most instances, the word ‘amnesty’ is used interchangeably with ‘pardon’ to mean the same thing, thereby, leading to jurisprudential misconceptions. Also, it is within the purview of public concerns that the resort to amnesty appeared to have been misused in Nigeria. It was based on these developments that this work had its roots. Therefore, this work is concerned with x-raying the fundamental concepts of amnesty and pardon, wherein the distinction between the two concepts will be observed. Equally, the work established that there are certain cases that will qualify for amnesty and pardon. Thus, the work identified certain types of pardon and amnesty recognized under the Nigerian law. Apart from that, the work established that the exercise of the power to grant amnesty or pardon must be based on due process. It is not an act of executive discretion. Using the paradigm of international law and domestic legal system, the work found that Nigeria is wanting in the area of compliance with laws and lack of transparency when granting amnesty or pardon. In the course of this work, the writers deployed the use of books, statutes, journals, statistics and periodicals. The work concluded by suggesting the enactment of a special law on the issue of amnesty and pardon in Nigeria to curb arbitrariness in the exercise of power.