By Deborah Hassan
…says clemency for drug, murder convicts undermines justice
365Daily – Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised President Bola Tinubu over his recent grant of presidential pardon to persons convicted of serious offences, describing the action as “reckless” and a dangerous assault on Nigeria’s justice system.
In a statement on Sunday, Atiku said the exercise of the presidential prerogative, which should ordinarily demonstrate mercy and reinforce public confidence in governance, has instead been used by the Tinubu administration to “embolden criminality and undermine justice.”
“The recent announcement of a presidential pardon by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has, as expected, provoked outrage across the nation,” the former vice president said.
He explained that while the Constitution empowers the President to temper justice with mercy, the latest pardons were extended to individuals convicted of “grave crimes such as drug trafficking, kidnapping, murder, and corruption,” thereby diminishing the sanctity of justice and sending “a dangerous signal to the public and the international community.”
“At a time when Nigeria continues to reel under the weight of insecurity, moral decay, and a surge in drug-related offences, it is both shocking and indefensible that the presidency would prioritize clemency for those whose actions have directly undermined national stability and social order,” Atiku said.
The former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) expressed particular concern over reports that nearly 30 per cent of those pardoned were convicted for drug-related offences.
“Particularly worrisome is the revelation that 29.2 percent of those pardoned were convicted for drug-related crimes at a time when our youth are being destroyed by narcotics, and our nation is still struggling to cleanse its image from the global stain of drug offences,” he noted.
Atiku also drew attention to what he called the “moral irony” of the move, referencing past controversies surrounding Tinubu’s alleged links to drug-related investigations in the United States.
“Even more disturbing is the moral irony that this act of clemency is coming from a President whose own past remains clouded by unresolved and unexplained issues relating to the forfeiture of thousands of dollars to the United States government over drug-related investigations,” he said.
According to him, the decision to pardon such offenders “makes a mockery of the criminal justice system, affronts victims, demoralises law enforcement, and inflicts a grave injury on the conscience of the nation.”
“A presidential pardon is meant to symbolize restitution and moral reform,” Atiku said. “Instead, what we have witnessed is a mockery of the criminal justice system, an affront to victims, a demoralization of law enforcement, and a grave injury to the conscience of the nation.”
He warned that the Tinubu administration’s action was tantamount to complicity in criminality.
“Clemency must never be confused with complicity. When a government begins to absolve offenders of the very crimes it claims to be fighting, it erodes the moral authority of leadership and emboldens lawlessness,” he cautioned.
Atiku concluded that Nigeria deserves leaders who uphold the rule of law and defend justice, not those who “trivialize it for political convenience.”
“Nigeria deserves a leadership that upholds justice, not one that trivializes it,” he said.