Just a week before the end of his administration in May 2019, the former Governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi, pardoned an official of the Oyo State Ministry of Justice, Yewande Oyediran, who was sentenced to seven years in prison for killing her husband, Lowo.
Oyediran, who was a lawyer, was in November 2017, convicted for manslaughter by Justice Muntar Abimbola of the Oyo State High Court, sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State. She killed her husband with a knife after a disagreement on February 2, 2016, at their residence in the Akobo area of Ibadan. The disagreement was said to have arisen after Yewande accused her late husband of infidelity.
While Speaking with The PUNCH on the telephone on Sunday, the Attorney-General of Oyo State under Ajimobi, Mr. Seun Abimbola, said the governor had the constitutional right to grant amnesty to any convict.
Abimbola said, “The issue of clemency by any government is constitutional but the exercise of that power is not arbitrary. It is based on the recommendation of the committee on the prerogative of mercy.
“The committee is chaired by the attorney-general and also has DSS officers, the police, the chaplain and the chief imam of the Government House, Legal Aid Council, Director, Legal Affairs, the Solicitor-General and the Directorate of Public Prosecution are members. So, it was not an arbitrary decision.
“The lady in question is just one out of 50 that were pardoned. And the 50 that were pardoned were drawn out of 400 that were considers. So, she was not singled out as some are insinuating. Even the prisons authorities brought recommendations on the good behaviour of those pardoned.”
