19 April 2012 :

at a one-day conference organised by Lawyers Without Borders in Abuja, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, and Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke, has taken different positions over retention or abolition of death penalty in the country. While the Chief Justice disagreed on the abolition of death penalty, saying it must be retained in the constitution, in spite of mounting pressure against it, the Attorney General was undecided, saying he could not say whether “ it is right or wrong.” Justice Dahiru Musdapher stressed that in a constitutional democracy, neither the legislature nor the judiciary is supreme over the constitution, adding that unless the National Assembly amends the law, there is nothing anybody can do about it. ‘The constitution specifically provides for death penalty… In addition, the Supreme Court has in, a plethora of cases, upheld the constitutionality of death sentence in Nigeria,” Musdapher said. In his remarks, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, said he could not take a position on whether death penalty should be abolished or not, a position supported by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The Attorney General emphasised that death penalty is a constitutional matter, decrying that the judiciary has been reluctant in its application.