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The Federal Government has clarified that the Presidential Prerogative of Mercy process is still undergoing final administrative review.
The government insisted that none of the convicts granted pardon by President Bola Tinubu has been released.
Following approval by the Council of State, Tinubu recently granted clemency to Sir Herbert Macaulay and 174 others.
Among the beneficiaries are notable figures such as Ken Saro-Wiwa, an Ogoni environmental activist, and Major General Mamman Vatsa, who was executed in 1986 for allegedly plotting a coup.
The pardon list also includes Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death in 2020 for killing her husband.
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However, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, in a statement on Thursday, explained that the exercise remains at the stage of verifying and reviewing the list of beneficiaries before the issuance of formal instruments of release.
“The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice wishes to clarify that no inmate approved for clemency under the recent exercise of the President’s power of prerogative of mercy has been released from custody.
“The process remains at the final administrative stage, which includes a standard review to ensure that all names and recommendations fully comply with established legal and procedural requirements before any instrument of release is issued,” the statement read.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has strongly criticised President Bola Tinubu’s recent decision to grant presidential pardons to several convicted drug traffickers and smugglers.
In a statement issued on Sunday, and signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC described the move as “pathetic and a national disgrace.”
According to Abdullahi, the decision amounts to “a most irresponsible abuse of the presidential power of mercy.”
He said the pardons were granted to people convicted of serious crimes like drug trafficking and smuggling — many of whom have “barely served two years in jail for offences that carry a penalty of life imprisonment.”
