Human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong on Monday, October 13, 2025, criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent grant of presidential pardon and clemency, questioning the moral basis for freeing convicted criminals while others remain in custody.
Speaking on Channels Television from 7:05, Effiong raised comparisons to infamous figures, suggesting an arbitrary application of the state’s prerogative of mercy.
The lawyer’s remarks followed the President’s widely criticized decision to grant pardon and clemency to 175 persons, a list endorsed by the National Council of State.
While the exercise included notable post-humous pardons for historical figures like nationalist Herbert Macaulay and the Ogoni Nine, the inclusion of individuals convicted of serious crimes such as drug trafficking and white-collar fraud has generated a significant public outcry.
Specific pardons for persons convicted of offences like cocaine trafficking and corrupt practices amplified the public’s outrage, with critics arguing the decision undermines the judiciary and sends a wrong signal in the fight against crime.
Effiong challenged the Presidency to explain the criteria for selecting those who received mercy.
He noted that the pardons for individuals convicted of offenses like drug dealing and other serious crimes created a dangerous precedent.
The human rights lawyer argued that if the president was indeed focused on “the saviour of hardened criminals,” as he put it, then the principle of clemency should be universally applied to all individuals with similar offenses, pushing the argument to its logical extreme by referencing notorious figures like Lawrence Anini and the billionaire kidnapper, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, known as Evans.
Effiong said, “Since Tinubu has issued pardon to drug dealers and kidnappers, how come Anini wasn’t pardoned? How come Evans, the notorious billionaire kidnapper, has not been pardoned? If the President is now becoming the saviour of hardened criminals, then he should pardon those with similar offences, he should go the whole way and open the prison gates and allow all the criminals to go.”
The statement encapsulated the national demand for accountability and transparency regarding the executive’s use of its constitutional power to grant pardons. See, More, Here>>>
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