ADC knocks Tinubu over pardon for drug traffickers
By Idun Maximus
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has berated President Bola Tinubu for granting pardon to some persons serving prison terms for drug related offences.
The ADC, in a statement by its interim national publicity secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, at the weekend, said the President’s action undermines the country’s anti-drug efforts and encourages crime, as well as further tarnishes Nigeria’s image in the international community.
The Federal Government had last week announced presidential pardon for 175 convicts, serving various prison terms, including those convicted for drug trafficking and related crimes.
However, the ADC stated that it amounts to the abuse of the President’s prerogative of mercy to grant clemency to persons serving prison terms for drug related offences, especially when most of them have barely served two terms.
The opposition party, which described the pardon as “pathetic and an act of immense national disgrace,” noted that officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency ( NDLEA) and other security agencies have taken grave risks to prosecute and secure convictions for drug offenders.
It argued that granting clemency to the convicts is tantamount to a mockery of the efforts of gallant officers in the fight against narcotics and illicit drugs.
“According to official media statements, it appears that all it takes to get presidential clemency for even the worst of crimes in Nigeria, including drug trafficking, gun running, and murder, is to ‘show remorse and learn skills.’
“Pardons and clemency are granted for their social utility and to correct perceived miscarriages of justice, and to convicts who have paid their debts to society. But we wonder what Nigeria stands to benefit from this act of clemency to convicts serving life sentences who have barely served two years.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Nigeria is still regarded as a major transit point for illicit drugs while we face a serious national pandemic of drug use, especially among our youths. Several reports have it that Nigeria’s drug use stands at an estimated 14.4%, almost three times the global average of 5.5%.
“For years, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and other security agencies have risked life and limb to combat this problem, dismantle illicit drug networks, intercept consignments, prosecute offenders, and secure convictions.
“The men and women in these agencies have laboured under enormous risk and pressure to protect the public from the scourge of addiction, trafficking, and related crimes that carry some of the harshest penalties in Nigerian law, precisely because of their devastating impact on public health, youth development, and national security.
“Granting clemency to individuals convicted under such laws therefore strikes at the very foundation of Nigeria’s legal and moral stance against narcotics and makes a mockery of the gallant efforts of officers fighting the battle against narcotics and illicit drugs”, the ADC stated.
Furthermore, it noted that “these pardons also send reverberations beyond Nigeria’s borders. They undercut our standing among global partners in the fight against drug trafficking and give the unfortunate impression to the rest of the world that our country, under President Tinubu, has particular sympathy for drug dealers and that Nigeria is a risk-free jurisdiction for traffickers in narcotics.
“Make no mistake, with this mass clemency for drug dealers, President Tinubu and the APC are redefining the standard of morality in our country. They are gradually transforming Nigeria into a country where anything goes, where even the worst of crimes attract no punishment beyond a few months of inconvenience for the criminal to, by their assessment, ‘show remorse.”
