President Jonathan Asks Governors to Sign Death Warrants

President Goodluck Jonathan has urged state governors to give the seal of approval to death penalties handed down on convicts by the courts in their domains to encourage an atmosphere of discipline in the society.

Death penalty is against the currents in civilized world because the practice is an intolerable denial of civil liberties and inconsistent with the fundamental values of a democratic system.

But Jonathan at the Aso Rock Villa Chapel where he attended a special service to mark this year’s Fathers’ Day said that the governors ought to know that the job they were elected to do had both the sweet and the ugly parts.

The President said he has been urging the state governors to stop refraining from signing death warrants of criminals condemned to death by courts of competent jurisdiction.

“Discipline can be in various forms. In the states, it could be admonition. Magistrate can just admonish and allow an offender to go. From admonition to various forms of punishments; it could be imprisonment. The extreme is capital punishment.

“In the case of capital punishment, the state governors will sign. Even governors sometimes find it difficult to sign. I have been telling the governors that they must sign because that is the law. The works we are doing have a very sweet part and a very ugly part, and we must perform both. No matter how painful it is; it is part of their responsibilities.” Jonathan added.

The President urged fathers to ensure that they discipline their children when the err, stressing that the love they showered on their children may be in vain if the children were not properly brought up.

He said it was important for parents, particularly fathers, to continually impress it on their children on the need to be upright in all their endeavours.