Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned President Bola Tinubu’s recent decision to grant presidential pardons to dozens of convicted criminals, describing the move as one that “undermines justice and emboldens criminality.”
In a strongly worded statement personally signed and released on Friday, Atiku said the exercise has sparked nationwide outrage, noting that it erodes public confidence in the rule of law.
“Ordinarily, the power of presidential pardon is a solemn prerogative, a moral and constitutional instrument designed to temper justice with mercy and to underscore the humanity of the state,” Atiku said. “When properly exercised, it elevates justice and strengthens public faith in governance.”
He, however, lamented that Tinubu’s action “has done the very opposite.”
“The decision to extend clemency to individuals convicted of grave crimes such as drug trafficking, kidnapping, murder, and corruption not only diminishes the sanctity of justice but also sends a dangerous signal to the public and the international community about the values this government upholds,” he added.
Atiku described the timing of the pardon as “shocking and indefensible,” noting that it came at a time when Nigeria is battling insecurity, moral decline, and a surge in drug-related crimes.
“Particularly worrisome is the revelation that 29.2 per cent 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 said.
The former vice president also referenced President Tinubu’s own controversial past, saying it was “morally ironic” for such a decision to come from a leader whose history, according to him, remains “clouded by unresolved and unexplained issues relating to the forfeiture of thousands of dollars to the United States government over drug-related investigations.”
“It is, therefore, no surprise that this administration continues to demonstrate a worrying tolerance for individuals associated with criminal enterprise,” he added.
Atiku argued that rather than being an act of compassion, the pardons represented a “mockery of the criminal justice system, an affront to victims, a demoralisation of law enforcement, and a grave injury to the conscience of the nation.”
“Clemency must never be confused with complicity,” he said. “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. Nigeria deserves a leadership that upholds justice, not one that trivialises it.”
ADC Calls Pardon ‘National Disgrace’
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) also joined in condemning the presidential pardons, calling them “pathetic and a national disgrace.”
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party said the move undermines Nigeria’s anti-drug efforts, encourages crime, and further tarnishes the country’s global image.
“It amounts to a most irresponsible abuse of the presidential power of prerogative of mercy to grant express pardon to dozens of convicts held for drug trafficking, smuggling, and related offences—especially when most of these convicts have barely served two years in jail for offences that carry life imprisonment,” Abdullahi said.
He criticised the government’s justification that the convicts had “shown remorse and learned skills” as a flimsy basis for clemency.
“Pardons and clemency are granted for their social utility and to correct perceived miscarriages of justice, and to convicts who have paid their debts to society. But we wonder what Nigeria stands to benefit from this act of clemency to convicts serving life sentences who have barely served two years,” Abdullahi added.
The ADC noted that the decision could jeopardise the hard work of security agencies such as the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), whose officers have risked their lives to combat drug trafficking and related crimes.
“Granting clemency to individuals convicted under such laws strikes at the very foundation of Nigeria’s legal and moral stance against narcotics and makes a mockery of the gallant efforts of officers fighting the battle against illicit drugs,” the statement said.
The party also warned that the move could have international repercussions.
“These pardons undercut our standing among global partners in the fight against drug trafficking and give the unfortunate impression that our country, under President Tinubu, has particular sympathy for drug dealers and that Nigeria is a risk-free jurisdiction for traffickers in narcotics,” Abdullahi warned.
He concluded that the ADC’s mission remains to “rescue the country from the ruling party, the APC, to whom public opinion or accountability means nothing, and power and impunity mean everything.”
