A senior aide to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has launched a scathing attack on President Bola Tinubu over the controversial reversal of presidential pardons granted to convicted drug traffickers and kidnappers.
Mr Phrank Shaibu, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication to Atiku, described the U-turn as “reactionary” and “embarrassing”, accusing the administration of lacking both foresight and moral conviction.
In a statement issued yesterday, Shaibu said the decision to revoke the clemency came only after intense public outrage had forced the government’s hand.
“Once again, Nigerians have witnessed a government that doesn’t lead, it reacts,” he said. “President Tinubu has cancelled his own pardon for drug traffickers, kidnappers and other hardened criminals, but only after Nigerians shouted loud enough to wake him from his moral slumber.”
The Atiku aide argued that the reversal was “an act of shame, not wisdom” and raised serious questions about the process that led to the controversial list of pardoned individuals in the first place.
Shaibu demanded answers on who compiled the list of beneficiaries, what criteria justified the release of convicted offenders, and what role the Attorney-General of the Federation played in the process.
“This pattern has become too familiar, announce the unthinkable, watch the country erupt, then hurriedly reverse course as if governance is a game of trial and error,” he said.
He insisted that a presidential pardon “is not a social experiment” but a constitutional responsibility that should reflect justice, mercy and the national interest.
Shaibu challenged the government to publish the names and offences of those initially selected for pardon, saying transparency was the only way to restore public trust.
“If the President truly means well, let him publish the list of all those who were meant to benefit from this scandal,” he said. “Until then, this cancellation is nothing but damage control – too little, too late.”
The statement concluded that the episode exposed what Shaibu described as the administration’s “governance without foresight, without empathy, and without shame.”
