…says Tinubu’s Presidential Pardon of Drug Barons Erodes Public Confidence in Statutory Institutions…
…commends Atiku, El-Rufai, Obi of Onitsha
“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 prioritise clemency for those whose actions have directly undermined national stability and social order.”
By Olawale Lamina
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress APC, and former National Publicity Secretary, nPDP, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has vehemently criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for what he described as legitimizing “illegality as a political strategy to sustain its odious reign beyond 2027, against the backdrop of the Presidential pardon granted some individual under questionable circumstances. He called for the scrapping of institutions like the NDLEA, EFCC and the ICPC, saying they have become irrelevant and worthless despite all the efforts and public resources deployed to convict some hardened criminals in the country because of political Interferences.
Reacting through a statement made available to journalists, Eze described as inexcusable and unwise for President Tinubu’s to have pardoned 50 Drug Barons and other similar criminals, noting that by his action, the President has rendered ineffective, the notable agencies which prosecuted some of the recipients of the prerogative with public funds.
The APC Chief stated that as long as he remains a member of APC, he would continue to condemn the action of the President which he claimed “brought shame and reproach to the party and caused it not to be unelectable in any election in this country….”
Eze quoted Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Information and Strategy as saying that out of the 175 beneficiaries of the Presidential pardon, 41 illegal miners, 28 drug traffickers and 22 murderers topped the list.
Notable among the 175 beneficiaries are Herbert Macaulay, one of Nigeria’s foremost nationalists; Farouk Lawan, a former member of the house of representatives; Mamman Vatsa, a major general and poet executed in 1986 over alleged treason; and Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death for killing her husband in 2017.
Eze observed that sadly, “Drug offenders, illegal miners, white-collar convicts, and foreigners are also among the recipients of the presidential pardon.”
Continuing, the party chieftain said: “The release of some of these criminals who will go back to revive their criminal acts is uncalled for. Both the Police and Judges that sentenced and convicted them are now endangered species.
On the risk that the President may have placed on some of the agencies, Eze quoted the Obi of Onitsha, His Majesty Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Ugochukwu Achebe as stating, “If the president can pardon drug convicts, then there’s no need for NDLEA. No need arresting thieves or punishing anyone again,”
The respected Monarch warned that such political pardon sends the wrong message to Nigerian youths and emboldens criminals who now believe that “crime pays — as long as you know the right people.”
Eze highlighted the position of Atiku Abubakar erstwhile Vice President of Nigeria who stated that “…the Presidential Pardon was reckless, undermines justice, emboldens criminality and morally indefensible and betrays the spirit of the constitutional power it is meant to represent.
“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.
“When properly exercised, it elevates justice and strengthens public faith in governance. Regrettably, the latest pardon issued by the Tinubu administration has done the very opposite.”
Chief Eze argued that granting clemency to individuals convicted of serious 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”.
“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 prioritise clemency for those whose actions have directly undermined national stability and social order,” he added.
Again, he quoted the former vice-president saying it is “particularly worrisome,” noting that nearly a third 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 said and adding that, “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.
“It is, therefore, no surprise that this administration continues to demonstrate a worrying tolerance for individuals associated with criminal enterprise.”
According to him, a presidential pardon is meant to symbolise “restitution and moral reform,” but the Tinubu’s action, he lamented “has become 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 quoted Atiku again, adding that “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.”
In similar vein Eze alluded to the position of Joel Ighalo a legal practitioner, whom he quoted as saying that, “If you are a state prosecutor, you must go through the list to see if the President released the person you spent several months, probably years, in court, trying to put away in prison.
“If the person nurses a ‘Sicilian predilection’ to vengeance, all the best to you. Why are you releasing people who were convicted of murder, human trafficking, etc, who didn’t even serve half the length of their respective sentences? This list betrays a lack of good judgment and poor exercise of discretion.
“It is a bastardization of the prerogative of mercy. This is inexcusable.”
And, in the case of the Ogoni Nine, Eze pointed out that, instead of pardon,
the Ogoni Nine should be granted full exoneration, not mercy, which would do justice to their legacy.
Eze counselled President Tinubu yet again to formally apologize to Nigerians for the blunder, stressing that unless the President is alluding to the position of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai when he highlighted that, “For A President accused of forfeiting $460,000 to USA Authority in a drug investigation, pardon of drug dealers feels like less compassion and more like a class reunion of the cartel Alumni Association.”
Eze concluded by appealing to Mr. President to as a matter of urgency retrieve and review the list of the recipients of presidential pardon
as advocated by Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, for him not to send a wrong signal.
Eze quoted Mr. Falana accordingly that, “The Federal Government should withdraw and review the list of pardonees without any delay in the interest of justice and national morality.
“In particular, the Prerogative of Mercy Committee should recommend to state governors to consider granting pardon to the persons who were convicted of state offences in the list of pardonees in accordance with Section 212 of the Nigerian Constitution,”
Eze concluded by appealing to Mr. President to as a matter of urgency retrieve and review the list of the recipients of presidential pardon as advocated by Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, for him not to send a wrong signal.
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