Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has criticised President Bola Tinubu over the recent grant of presidential pardon to several convicted persons, describing the decision as “reckless” and a setback to Nigeria’s justice system.
In a statement posted on X on Sunday, Atiku said the clemency extended to persons convicted of offences such as drug trafficking, kidnapping, murder, and corruption “diminishes the sanctity of justice” and “emboldens criminality.”
“The recent announcement of a presidential pardon by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has, as expected, provoked outrage across the nation,” he said.
According to the former vice-president, the power of presidential pardon is a moral and constitutional tool meant to “temper justice with mercy” and reinforce citizens’ faith in governance, but the Tinubu administration’s decision had achieved the opposite.
“The decision to extend clemency to individuals convicted of grave crimes… sends a dangerous signal to the public and the international community about the values this government upholds,” Atiku said.
He expressed concern that nearly a third of those pardoned, about 29.2 percent, were convicted for drug-related offences, despite the country’s ongoing struggle with narcotics abuse among the youth.
“At a time when Nigeria continues to reel under 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,” he said.
Atiku also drew attention to what he called “moral irony,” referencing President Tinubu’s alleged past links to a U.S. drug forfeiture case.
“It is no surprise that this administration continues to demonstrate a worrying tolerance for individuals associated with criminal enterprise,” he added.
The former vice-president said a presidential pardon should symbolize restitution and moral reform, not “a mockery of the criminal justice system or an affront to victims.”
He concluded that granting pardon to offenders convicted of serious crimes “erodes the moral authority of leadership and emboldens lawlessness,” urging that Nigeria deserves a leadership that “upholds justice, not one that trivializes it.”
