NIGERIA: FG Chides EU Over Safiya

The Federal Government yesterday in Abuja expressed dissatisfaction with the part being played by the European Union (EU) to secure the release of Safiya Bariya, the woman condemned to death by stoning, saying the Sokoto Sharia Court handling the case was a legal and constitutional system.

The Minister of State for Justice, Alhaji Musa Elayo Abdullahi, react to a news report saying the European Parliament had written to President Olusegun Obasanjo requesting the release of the woman convicted of adultery, noting that the plea amounts to an interference in Nigeria's judicial process.

 A statement by Elayo last night in Abuja said the case was in a court of justice and that it was against Nigerian law to comment on matters under judicial process.

 Signed by the minister's chief press secretary, Mrs. Boade Akintola, the statement said: "Elayo Abdullahi has stated that it is against the rule of law in Nigeria to intervene in a matter which is under judicial process".

 The statement added that the Federal Government "would not intervene administratively in a matter before the court."

 He said the government was eager to see justice done for the woman, noting that the fact that the government had not intervened in the case so far was a show of its confidence in the judicial process.

 "The Hon. Minister expresses the confidence of the Federal Government in the judiciary in ensuring that justice is not only done but is seen to be done in the case of Safiya Bariya," the statement said.

 Elayo said Sharia courts in Nigeria were recognised legal institutions and constitutional under the existing Nigerian judicial system.

 He said the appeal against Safiya's conviction was before the Sharia Court of Appeal of Sokoto State, from where it could be tabled before the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Nigeria, which are both federal courts.

 He noted again that if the case went "through the whole of these processes" and Safiya's conviction is upheld by even the Supreme Court, she can still be set free by the state governor.

 He said the governor could "grant the convict respite from the death (or any) sentence," citing Section 212 (1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution.

 "The sentence of death can only be carried out after the state governor has signed the death warrant," he said.

 The minister said the Nigerian government appreciates people's the concern for Safiya and reaffirmed the commitment of the Obasanjo administration to due process and "the development of the rule of law".

 He added that government was alive to its responsibility in regard to the protection of the fundamental rights of all Nigerians.