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President Bola Tinubu’s decision to review and partially reverse the earlier presidential pardon list has been described as “an act of strength” and “proof of compassion,” says Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy.
Speaking on Arise TV’s Prime Time programme, Onanuga said President Tinubu was not afraid to acknowledge errors and make corrections where necessary, describing him as a leader who “reads all newspapers, watches TV, and monitors news updates daily.”
“Tinubu is not afraid to reverse himself once he makes errors. This is a president that wakes up in the morning and reads all newspapers, watches TV to monitor news updates,” Onanuga said. “He is a compassionate president who is not afraid to check what he has done and take corrections.”
Onanuga clarified that those who benefited from the clemency, including Maryam Sanda and others with drug-related cases, were granted clemency, not pardons, after careful consideration of humanitarian grounds and recommendations from correctional authorities.
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“Maryam Sanda’s case is complicated because she has children, and the father is no more. Who will take care of them? It was a crime of passion, not premeditated,” Onanuga explained. “The biological father of her husband, Alhaji Ahmed Bello Isa, even pleaded for forgiveness.”
He added that the government considered the principle of rehabilitation and remorse in granting clemency to some convicts.
“If someone has committed a drug offence, has served a major part of his sentence, shown remorse, and become a reformed person, the state must have a heart of forgiveness,” he said. “Custodial centres themselves are established to be correctional.”
Onanuga also noted that the administration had transferred the Secretariat of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy from the Federal Ministry of Special Duties to the Federal Ministry of Justice for better oversight and transparency.
“What the government has done in this case is to move the duty from the Special Duties office and place it under the Ministry of Justice for better accuracy,” he said.
President Tinubu had earlier signed instruments of pardon and clemency to release certain individuals convicted of various offences, in exercise of his constitutional power under Section 175(1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Following consultations with the Council of State and feedback from the public, the President ordered a review of the list, deleting names of individuals convicted for serious crimes such as kidnapping, drug trafficking, human trafficking, fraud, and arms dealing.
