Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his recent withdrawal of the presidential pardon earlier extended to individuals convicted of serious crimes such as drug trafficking, kidnapping, human trafficking, fraud, and illegal possession of firearms.
Gatekeepers News reports that President Tinubu, on Wednesday, directed that all persons convicted of such offences be removed from the list of beneficiaries under the federal government’s prerogative of mercy.
Commenting on the revised pardon list in a statement released by his media aide, Phrank Shaibu, Abubakar alleged that the president’s move came only after public outrage.
Abubakar said the reversal was an act of shame rather than a display of good judgment. According to him, President Tinubu cancelled his pardon for drug traffickers, kidnappers, and other hardened criminals only after Nigerians shouted loud enough to wake him from his moral slumber.
The former vice-president noted that the development raised serious concerns about accountability and decision-making within the Tinubu administration.
He asked, “If the public had kept quiet, would convicted drug lords and kidnappers be walking free today under the President’s blessing?”
Abubakar further questioned the individuals who compiled the list of those initially pardoned and the criteria used in justifying their inclusion. He insisted that the attorney-general must clarify the government’s involvement in the “national embarrassment.”
He accused the current administration of repeatedly making rash decisions that are later reversed only after widespread criticism.
Abubakar said, “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.”
Describing the presidential pardon as a constitutional privilege meant to embody justice, mercy, and the national interest, Abubakar warned that it must never be used to “reward impunity or test public patience.”
He urged the president to make public the names of those who were initially 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.”
Concluding his remarks, Abubakar stated that the cancellation of the pardon was merely damage control and did not erase the presidency’s poor sense of judgment.
