The Attorney-General of Oyo State under Ajimobi, Mr. Seun Abimbola, has explained why former Governor Abiola Ajimobi released an Ibadan lawyer and ex-official of the Oyo State Ministry of Justice, Yewande Oyediran, who was sentenced to seven years in prison for killing her husband, Lowo.
The news of Mrs Oyediran’s release came a week before the end of Ajimobi’s tenure in May 2019.
In an interview with The PUNCH, Abimbola, said as governor, Sen Abiola Ajimobi had the constitutional right to grant amnesty to any convict as it was not arbitrary decision as it was being insinuated.
He said Mrs Oyediran and 49 other persons were also freed by Ajimobi after a committee was set up to look into the petitions of 400 persons who had pleaded for clemency.
“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,” The PUNCH quoted Abimbola in a report.
nsideOyo.com reports that for stabbing her husband, Lowo Oyediran Ajanaku, to death in 2016, the Ibadan lawyer, Yewande Oyediran, was sentenced to seven years in jail for manslaughter.
Abimbola, however, told PUNCH Newspaper that Oyediran had “already served half of her sentence and the governor decided to show her mercy since she was not convicted of premeditated murder.”
He explained further “that nine months in prison is equal to a year, adding that her sentence began counting from the day she was detained.”
