Opposition parties and political figures, including the African Democratic Congress and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, have condemned President Bola Tinubu’s recent decision to grant presidential pardons to dozens of convicted criminals, including drug traffickers, describing the move as a grave setback to Nigeria’s anti-drug campaign and a dangerous affront to justice and morality.

The Presidency on Saturday released a detailed list of 175 individuals granted the 2025 presidential pardon, among them the late nationalist Herbert Macaulay, the late Major General Mamman Vatsa, and Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death for killing her husband.

The pardon, which also included presidential clemency, covered more than 30 convicted drug offenders and several others jailed for crimes such as homicide, fraud, and illegal mining. The development has sparked widespread criticism and debate across the country.

In a statement on Sunday, ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, described the move as “pathetic and a national disgrace,” arguing that it undermines the nation’s war against drugs, encourages criminality, and damages Nigeria’s international reputation.

“The African Democratic Congress finds as pathetic and an act of immense national disgrace the recent presidential pardon and clemency granted to several convicted criminals by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” the statement read.

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“It amounts to a most irresponsible abuse of the presidential power of prerogative of mercy to grant express pardon to dozens of convicts held for drug trafficking, smuggling, and related offences—especially when most of these convicts have barely served two years in jail for crimes that attract life imprisonment.”

The party said the decision sends a disturbing message that remorse and token rehabilitation are now sufficient grounds for freedom, even for serious crimes.

“According to official 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,” ADC said.

It added that the purpose of pardon and clemency is to correct miscarriages of justice and reintegrate those who have genuinely paid their debt to society, not to excuse dangerous offenders.

“We wonder what Nigeria stands to gain from this act of clemency to convicts serving life sentences who have barely served two years.

READ ALSO:Tinubu Grants Presidential Pardon To Herbert Macaulay, 174 Others

“For years, NDLEA officers have risked life and limb to combat this problem,” the party said. “Granting clemency to individuals convicted under such laws makes a mockery of their sacrifice and gives the world the impression that Nigeria, under President Tinubu, is sympathetic to drug dealers and a safe haven for traffickers.”

Also, Atiku said the pardon had “rightly sparked nationwide outrage.”

Atiku said while the presidential power of mercy is intended to balance justice with compassion, its misuse weakens confidence in the rule of law.

“Regrettably, the latest pardon issued by the Tinubu administration has done the very opposite,” Atiku said. “Extending clemency to individuals convicted of grave crimes such as drug trafficking, kidnapping, murder, and corruption diminishes the sanctity of justice and sends a dangerous signal to both the public and the international community.”

He described the decision as “shocking and indefensible” at a time when Nigeria is grappling with insecurity, moral decay, and a surge in drug-related crimes.

READ ALSO: FULL LIST: 175 Beneficiaries Of Tinubu’s Pardons

“Particularly worrisome,” he added, “is the revelation that 29.2 per cent of those pardoned were convicted for drug-related offences, even as our youth are being destroyed by narcotics and our nation continues to battle the global stigma of drug offences.”

In a pointed criticism, Atiku said the pardon raises “moral irony” given the lingering questions about Tinubu’s past in relation to a U.S. drug-related forfeiture case, noting that “it is therefore no surprise that this administration continues to show tolerance for individuals associated with criminal enterprise.”

“A presidential pardon should symbolise restitution and moral reform. Instead, what we have witnessed is a mockery of the criminal justice system, an affront to victims, and a demoralization of law enforcement.

“Clemency must never be confused with complicity. When a government begins to absolve offenders of the very crimes it claims to be fighting, it erodes moral authority and emboldens lawlessness.”

Atiku called for a review of the clemency process to ensure transparency, fairness, and respect for public interest, insisting that “Nigeria needs leaders who defend justice, not those who undermine it.”

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has fired back at Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, over his recent comments questioning the cost per kilometre of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, insisting that the governor misunderstood the technical details of road construction and cost evaluation.

Speaking during an inspection tour of the Keffi Bridge and the Nasarawa–Toto Road projects, alongside the state governor, Abdullahi Sule, on Saturday, Umahi said the cost of the highway had been carefully computed in line with global engineering standards and should not be reduced to “political soundbites.”

Governor Makinde had queried the minister’s estimated figures on the cost per kilometre of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which is one of the signature infrastructure projects of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Makinde, who spoke at an event in a viral video on Friday, said there was no need for the Minister of Works, David Umahi, to be “dancing around the cost” of the project.

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He said, “These are elementary questions. And it makes no sense (sic). A process is ongoing, payment has been made, and you are saying, ‘How has this money been utilised?. The money is meant for the project, and it will be paid according to the work done.

Responding to the inspection tour, the former Ebonyi governor described Makinde as “a brother and friend” but said it was improper for him to publicly accuse him of “dancing around” figures.

“I heard that my brother and friend, Governor Makinde of Oyo state, said something about the cost per kilometre. I don’t want to join issues with him. I think he is an engineer, I think he is an electrician, they call it ‘elect-elect’. But this road construction matter, ‘elect-elect no reach there’,” Umahi said.

He continued, “I am his senior both in governance and in engineering practice. So, anything he doesn’t understand, he should call me and ask. I have great respect for him as my friend and brother, but he should withdraw the statement that I’m dancing around. I never danced around. If he insists, he should come for a debate, which is very important.”

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Defending the project further, Umahi explained that there was no ambiguity in determining the cost per kilometre, stressing that it must be understood in both estimated and average terms.

“There is no ambiguity in cost per kilometre,” he said. “I am teaching them that cost per kilometre can be divided into estimated cost, which has elements of variance, and average cost, which is definitive. The average cost of a definitive project and the estimated cost are probable elements.”

He explained that the estimated cost includes allowances for contingencies and variation of price, which may not eventually be utilised.

“When the project is completed, and you remove what you didn’t use, such as contingencies and VOP, then you have your actual cost,” he added.

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Umahi expressed amusement that some critics had resorted to asking Artificial Intelligence to explain the difference between estimated and average cost, only for the AI’s response to align with his explanation.

“When somebody who is dangling without knowledge goes to ask AI what the difference is between cost per kilometre and average cost, I’m happy that AI told him exactly what I said,” the minister quipped.

He also cited the National Universities Commission’s clarification on who qualifies as a professor, noting that practical experience in the field also counts as expertise.

“I’m happy that the NUC programme on who is a professor also made me right. You can become a professor by the reason of your practice. And I think God has made me one when it comes to practical, field engineering programmes, that’s what it is; you can’t take it back,” Umahi said.

Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah is set to dump the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, next week.

National Chairman and Deputy National Chairman, South-East, of the APC, Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda and Emma Eneukwu, respectively, broke the news in Abuja on Friday.

The APC national leadership revealed Mbah’s imminent defection to the ruling party while swearing in the newly inaugurated members of the Enugu State caretaker committee, led by former state chairman, Ben Nwoye, at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja.

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The governor is expected to announce his defection at an event schedule to hold in the state next week.

Chairman of the newly inaugurated caretaker committee, Nwoye, who confirmed the development, said the governor will join the ruling party alongside all his appointees.

There are speculations that Taraba State Governor, Agbu Kefas, is also set to join APC.