Execution Of Death Sentence

Death sentence is part of the nation’s law and the issue of executing persons on death row has been settled by the highest court of our land, (Supreme Court).
In several reported cases, whether these judgements were reached fallibly, is not an issue because the legal system is governed by finality and not fallibility or infallibility. In the words of Justice Chukwudifu Oputa in Adeyoke Motors Ltd V. Adesanya (1998) 13 NMWLR (Pt 109) 250 at Pg 275A. “We are final not because we are infallible, rather we are infallible because we are final.” Although death penalty is part of our law, the execution of this penalty, has been a log in the wheel of progress in the Administration of Criminal Justice in Nigeria. Since 1999, records have it that, only two governors out of the thirty six governors, have signed death warrants. They are, the former governor of Kano State, Ibrahim Shekarau, who signed in 2006 and the former governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, who signed in 2013.
Most Governors are unwilling to sighn the death warrant. According to Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State. “Life is valued in African Culture.” He recently suggested that the law which mandates state governors and President to sign death warrant be amended. In fact, he is of the opinion that, the mandate to sign death warrant should be reassigned to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN). That is another way to say, let their blood not be on our hands, but on the judiciary that passed the sentence.
According to the National Human Rights Commission, no fewer than 1,612 inmates are on death row in Nigerian prisons, causing great congestion. There is now an urgent call on the governors to invoke the spirit of braveness and stand up to their constitutional responsibility and sign the warrants to decongest the prisons.
However, some persons are against the death penalty. Their argument is that, there is a high likelihood of wrongful conviction stemming from poor investigation by the Nigerian police force and also the imperfection of the Nigerian criminal justice administration. And it would be unjust to retain the death penalty in the face of such imperfections.
For those who are in favour of it, they maintain that, anyone who has willfully killed, especially terrorist, simply deserves not to live. In their view, applying the death penalty on such people will completely foreclose the possibility of their wrecking more havoc on the society in the event that they are pardoned and released. They believe that killing criminals will serve as a deterrent to others who  may want to toe the same path.
But, in the real sense of it, has it really been a deterrent?

Nkechi Bright Ewere