BY GODWIN OBI
Atiku Abubakar Blasts Tinubu’s Presidential Pardon, Says It ‘Erodes Morality and Emboldens Criminality’
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has launched a scathing attack on President Bola Tinubu’s recent wave of presidential pardons, calling it a reckless misuse of executive power that trivializes justice and emboldens offenders.
In a strongly worded statement on his official X handle on Sunday, Atiku said the prerogative of mercy is meant to balance justice with compassion, not to “sanitize the sins of criminals.”
He lamented that the latest round of pardons — which freed or absolved 175 convicts and ex-convicts, including Major General Mamman Vatsa (posthumously), Ken Saro-Wiwa, Maryam Sanda, and others — has turned a solemn constitutional duty into what he described as a “mockery of justice.”
According to the Presidency, the clemency list was approved following recommendations by the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, chaired by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).
But Atiku condemned the inclusion of individuals convicted for grave crimes such as homicide, illegal mining, drug trafficking, and fraud, warning that the decision sends “a dangerous message” to both Nigerians and the international community.
“Ordinarily, the power of presidential pardon is a moral and constitutional instrument meant to temper justice with mercy,” Atiku said.
“But this latest exercise by the Tinubu administration has done the very opposite — it diminishes the sanctity of justice and emboldens criminality.”
The former Vice President expressed particular concern over the high number of drug-related offenders among those pardoned, describing the move as “deeply troubling” amid Nigeria’s worsening drug crisis.
“It is shocking that 29.2% of those pardoned were convicted for drug offences, even as our youths are being destroyed by narcotics,” he said.
“Worse still, this act of clemency comes from a President whose own past remains tainted by unresolved allegations of drug-related forfeitures in the United States.”
Atiku argued that the pardon undermines law enforcement and insults victims of crime, insisting that “clemency must never be confused with complicity.”
“A presidential pardon should symbolize redemption and moral reform — not serve as a reward for corruption and criminality,” he said.
“When a government begins to absolve the very criminals it claims to be fighting, it loses its moral authority and weakens the soul of the nation.”
The former Vice President concluded with a sharp rebuke:
“Nigeria deserves a leadership that upholds justice — not one that trivializes it.”
ADVERTISEMENTS
