Atiku: Tinubu’s pardon list review too little, too late

Former vice-president Atiku Abubakar has criticised President Bola Tinubu over the reversal of the presidential pardon earlier granted to convicted drug traffickers, kidnappers, and other criminals.

On Wednesday, Tinubu ordered the removal of persons convicted for kidnapping, drug trafficking, human trafficking, fraud, and unlawful possession of firearms from the list of beneficiaries under the federal government’s prerogative of mercy.

Abubakar said the decision to cancel the pardon came only after Nigerians expressed outrage, describing the move as “too little, too late”.

In a statement issued by his media aide, Phrank Shaibu, Abubakar said the reversal was not an act of wisdom but “an act of shame”.

“President Bola Tinubu has ‘cancelled’ his own pardon for drug traffickers, kidnappers, and other hardened criminals — but only after Nigerians shouted loud enough to wake him from his moral slumber,” the statement reads.

Abubakar said the controversy raised fundamental questions about governance and accountability in the current administration.

“If the public had kept quiet, would convicted drug lords and kidnappers be walking free today under the President’s blessing?” he asked.

He queried persons who compiled the list of beneficiaries and what criteria were used to justify freeing such offenders, adding that the attorney-general must explain the government’s role in the “national embarrassment”.

Abubakar accused the Tinubu administration of a recurring pattern of hasty decisions followed by public backlash and reversals.

“This pattern has become too familiar — announce the unthinkable, watch the country erupt, then hurriedly reverse course as if governance is a game of ‘trial and error’,” he said.

He described the presidential pardon as a “sacred constitutional power meant to reflect justice, mercy, and national interest — not to reward impunity or test public patience”.

Abubakar urged the president to publish the list of those who were meant to benefit from the pardon, saying Nigerians deserve to know “the names, the crimes, and the hands that signed off on this reckless indulgence”.

The politician added that the last-minute cancellation of the pardon “is nothing but damage control” and does not absolve the presidency of poor judgment.

BACKGROUND

On October 9, Tinubu granted presidential pardon and other forms of clemency to 175 persons, following the approval of the council of state.

Among the 175 beneficiaries are Herbert Macaulay, one of Nigeria’s foremost nationalists; Farouk Lawan, a former member of the house of representatives; and Mamman Vatsa, a major general and poet executed in 1986 over alleged treason.

Maryam Sanda, the woman who was sentenced to death for killing her husband in 2017, was pardoned in the initial list.

Drug offenders, illegal miners, white-collar convicts, and foreigners were also among recipients of the presidential pardon.

The list elicited mixed reactions, as some Nigerians argued that some of the beneficiaries should not have been pardoned considering the magnitude of the offence.

Following the public outrage, Lateef Fagbemi, attorney-general of the federation, said the pardon list would be reviewed and that there are different stages involved in the process.