Law professors from the Nigeria Institute of Advanced Legal Studies on Tuesday canvassed the repeal of the death penalty from the country's statutes.
The academics made the call during a visit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, in Abuja.
Led by the Director-General of the institute, Prof. Epiphany Azinge(SAN), they urged the National Assembly to initiate the repeal process.
Azinge said, "We, the Nigeria Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, seek an abbrogation of the death penalty in all our laws. It is a matter of despair to hear that people still clamour for death penalty in the states."
NIALS also called on the National Assembly to ensure the justiciability of Chapter II of the 1999 Constitution, by protecting the fundamental human rights of Nigerians.
The delegation commended the House for passing "people-oriented bills" since 2011 when the 7th Assembly was inaugurated. The House had passed 60 bills since June 6, 2011.
Azinge, however, noted that the institute was concerned about the outdated laws in the statutes and sought for their repeal. He identified capacity building as an area lawmakers needed help to improve on their performance.
According to him, the institute can collaborate with the National Institute of Legislative Studies to teach the lawmakers the art of bill drafting.
Azinge added, "Some of the legislation are not evidence-based. The institute has done extensive work on Chapter II (of the constitution) to make it justiciable. We only want to add our voices to what the National Assembly is already doing."
The Speaker informed the delegation that the House and the institute were reasoning alike as the former had already begun the repeal of outdated laws.
To accomplish the task, he said the House Committee on Justice was restructured to place people with the competence to do the work in the committee.
The Punch