ATIKU, ADC: Clemency for Drug Traffickers Undermines Justice, Emboldens Criminality

By Peter Salami

Fresh outrage has trailed President Bola Tinubu’s latest presidential pardons, with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) accusing the administration of trivialising justice and encouraging criminality by granting clemency to convicted drug offenders, murderers, and corrupt individuals.

Atiku, in a strongly worded statement on Sunday, described the move as “indefensible, immoral, and dangerous,” warning that it sends the wrong message to Nigerians and the international community at a time when the nation is battling insecurity, corruption, and a surging drug crisis.

“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 emboldens lawlessness,” Atiku said.

He accused the presidency of mocking the criminal justice system, demoralising law enforcement agencies, and offending victims of violent crimes.

“A presidential pardon is meant to symbolise restitution and moral reform. Instead, what we have witnessed is a mockery of the justice system and a grave injury to the conscience of the nation,” he said.

Atiku further noted that nearly 30 percent of those pardoned were convicted for drug-related crimes, describing this as “particularly worrisome” given the devastating impact of narcotics on Nigerian youths.

“Even more disturbing,” he added, “is the moral irony that this act of clemency is coming from a President whose own past remains clouded by unresolved issues relating to drug forfeitures in the United States. It is therefore no surprise that this administration continues to tolerate individuals associated with criminal enterprise.”

Atiku declared that “clemency must never be confused with complicity,” insisting that Nigeria deserves leaders who uphold justice, not those who trivialise it.

Meanwhile, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) joined in condemning the pardons, describing the exercise as “a reckless abuse of presidential power” that undermines the rule of law and sabotages years of effort in Nigeria’s war on drugs.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said the clemency for convicted traffickers and smugglers “strikes at the very foundation of Nigeria’s legal and moral stance against narcotics.”

The presidency had, on Saturday, released a list of 175 beneficiaries of the 2025 presidential pardon, including late nationalist Herbert Macaulay, late Major General Mamman Vatsa, and Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death for killing her husband. Over 30 of the beneficiaries were convicted of drug-related offences.

Defending the decision, Presidential Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the clemency followed “judicial and moral considerations” based on remorse, rehabilitation, and the correction of historical wrongs.

But the ADC dismissed the explanation as hollow.
“Nigeria remains a major transit point for illicit drugs, with a national drug use rate of 14.4 percent, almost three times the global average,” the party said.
“For years, NDLEA and other security agencies have risked life and limb to dismantle drug networks. To pardon those convicted under these same laws makes a mockery of their sacrifices and weakens deterrence.”

The ADC further warned that the move could damage Nigeria’s credibility with international partners in the global anti-narcotics campaign.
“These pardons tell the world that Nigeria, under President Tinubu, has sympathy for drug traffickers, a dangerous signal that undermines our moral and diplomatic standing,” it said.

Atiku, on his part, used the controversy to renew his call for hope and civic engagement among Nigerian youths, urging them not to succumb to despair.
“I am extremely concerned about how young Nigerians are losing faith in the country,” he said in a separate X message. “But the change they seek can only come through the ballot, not apathy. They must mobilise for 2027 and vote out bad governance.”

He added: “We shall not relent until Nigeria is recovered from anti-democratic forces.”