A legal practitioner, Kayode Ajulo, has said that the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday is a good opportunity for those making pleas for pardon on behalf of former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu to do that.

Ekweremadu who alongside his wife Beatrice and doctor, Obinna Obeta was convicted by the Central Criminal Court in London of organ trafficking in March, was handed prison sentences on Friday (today).

Before the sentencing, very high-profile bodies and individuals including the Senate, House of Reps, ECOWAS Parliament, and former President Olusegun Obasanjo among others wrote to the court asking for clemency for Ekweremadu.

But Ajulo who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday believes the letters were done “erroneously”. He said that it could pass as trying to interfere in the court processes but proffered a better solution.

“Now that Ekweremadu has been sentenced, this is the time to do that (ask for pardon). Tomorrow King Charles III will be coronated as the King of England, as the Head of State.

“There is what is called royal prerogative for pardon, I believe anybody that wants to write a letter, anybody that wants to make a plea for Ekweremadu, this is the best time to ask the sovereignty of the United Kingdom; that is His Majesty King Charles III to pardon Ekweremadu.

“The precedent has been there since as far back as 1717, King George did the same. In 2003 and even as close as 2021, the same thing happened. Sovereign can do that and I believe that is the plea we need to do for Ekweremadu, not to be writing and interfering with the conduct of the court,” Ajulo said.

At a sentencing hearing on Friday, Ekweremadu was jailed for nine years and eight months, his wife Beatrice was sentenced to four years and six months imprisonment while Obeta received a 10-year prison term.

The three were found guilty after arranging or facilitating a young Nigerian man’s travel into the United Kingdom in a bid to obtain his kidney on behalf of their daughter Sonia.