ATIKU CRITICIZES PRESIDENT TINUBU OVER RECENT EXERCISE OF PREROGATIVE POWER OF MERCY

Former Vice President, ATIKU ABUBAKARhas criticized President BOLA TINUBU for what he described as an abuse of the presidential power of mercy, following the recent granting of pardons and clemency to 175 individuals, including those convicted of serious crimes.

In a statement posted on his verified X handleon Sunday, ATIKU said the move undermines the sanctity of justice, encourages lawlessness, and erodes public confidence in the criminal justice system.

Recall that President TINUBU on Thursday granted presidential pardons to 175 persons, including the late nationalist, HERBERT MACAULAY, the late Major General MAMMAN VATSA, and MARYAM SANDA, who was sentenced to death for murdering her husband.

While acknowledging that the prerogative of mercy is meant to temper justice with compassion, ATIKU argued that the latest round of clemency had “trivialized” the principle and warned against turning the exercise into “a tool that becomes complicit with crime and diminishes justice.”