The crime was committed in Abuja and tried in a federal high court.
All convicted capital offenders get an automatic appeal which can be continued up to the Supreme court.
If all appeals are exhausted, the execution can only be carried out by an executive order by a duly elected governor which the FCT does not have. The minister of FCT is not constitutionality empowered to grant pardons or a prerogative of mercy. So if the minister can not grant pardons, he can not sign warrants either.
Who then will sign her death warrant as constitutionally mandated for executions?
This is the reason federal judges hardly pass death sentences. The case of kabirui sokoto who was responsible for over 200 deaths in the Abuja Nyanya bombings and Okah’s Independence day lethal bombings saw only life sentences as both crimes were committed in Abuja and tried at an Abuja high court.
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Only Governors can sign a warrant. Even the president doesn’t have that responsibility although he can grant pardons or commutations to a life sentence.
The point I am making is that the useless woman judge who passed this sentence is not aware of the intricacies surrounding death sentences within federal jurisprudence .
She is obviously from the same school as Tanko.
If in doubt, why did the FG hand Maj Mustapha and Gen Bamiyi to Lagos state for prosecution?
Even in the US, the FBI may decide to try someone in a state court rather than federal when looking for a death sentence. The only crimes that can lead to a death conviction in a US federal court is espionage and treason. Same rules apply in Nigeria.’
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
