Bill to abolish death penalty scales second reading at house of reps

A bill seeking to abolish death penalty has passed the second reading at the house of representatives.

The bill, sponsored by Benjamin Kalu, deputy speaker of the house, and six other lawmakers, seeks to amend section 33 (1) of the 1999 constitution.

The aforementioned section stipulates that: “Every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life, save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria”.

The bill proposes to delete the phrase: “Save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria”.

While Nigeria retains death penalty for various crimes such as armed robbery, and murder, among others, executions are rare, as successive presidents and governors have refrained from signing death warrants since 1999, leading to a backlog of death row inmates.

In recent years, there have calls by right activists for death penalty to be replaced with longer sentences.