95. In the present case, the sentence imposed by the State Security Emergency Court on 30 November 2006 on the Victims becomes final once it has been ratified by the President of the Respondent State. Under Article 14 of the Emergency Law (Law No. 162 of 1958 as amended), the President may decide to commute the sentence, revoke the judgment, or order a retrial by another circuit of the State Security Emergency Court. The President's decision is discretionary and cannot be made subject to any appeal. 96. The African Commission decided in Communication No. 60/91 Constitutional Rights Project v Nigeria13 that purely discretionary remedies of non judicial nature where “the object of the remedy is to obtain a favour and not to vindicate a right” are not of the kind contemplated by Article 56(5). In this decision, the African Commission described the power of the Governor to confirm or disallow the decision of a Special Tribunal in Nigeria as a "discretionary, extraordinary remedy of a non-judicial nature."14 The African Commission stated that the remedy was neither adequate nor effective because the Governor was under "no obligation to decide according to legal principles"15 and concluded that the Governor‟s decision was therefore not a remedy of the nature that required exhaustion under Article 56(5) of the Charter.16 In Communication No 87/93 Civil Liberties Organisation v Nigeria, the African Commission also found that in the absence of a judicial body to adjudicate the applicant’s complaints, there was no effective remedy to which the applicant could have recourse.17 97. In the Instant matter, the clarifications by the Representatives of the Respondent State during the 41st Ordinary Session led the Commission to the conclusion that there were no other local remedies available for the victims to 13 See Communication 60/91 (1994). Serac Vs Nigeria. 15 See, also, Constitutional Rights Project v Nigeria, Comm. No. 87/93 (1994) in which the Commission affirmed this reasoning in the same language at 8. 16 Communication 87/97. 17 Civil Liberties Organisation v Nigeria, Comm. No. 129/94 (1995) 9. 14 23

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