Odinkalu: Tinubu’s Pardons Violate Constitution, Undermine Justice System

•Says pardons mix heroes with criminals, mock justice

Wale Igbintade

Former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, has taken a swipe at the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), accusing him of presiding over what he described as an illegal, seedy, and constitutionally flawed process in the administration of presidential pardons.

In a strongly worded article titled “Herbert Macaulay, Presidential Pardon, et al,” the renowned human rights activist and lawyer said the Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, headed by Fagbemi, had “done irreparable damage” to the integrity of the presidential pardon process.

According to him, the committee’s work was riddled with illegality, procedural lapses, and possible inducement.

“There is no way to diminish the damage that Lateef Fagbemi’s Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy has done to the presidential pardon.

“There are clear elements of illegality in what it has done and in what it proposes to do. It is seedy and stinks,” Odinkalu wrote.

He argued that the committee’s recommendations, which led to President Bola Tinubu’s October 12, 2025 announcement of pardons for 175 persons, violated the Constitution and basic moral standards.

Citing Section 175(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Odinkalu explained that the president could only grant pardons to persons “concerned with or convicted of offences created by an Act of the National Assembly.”

He questioned how the committee could have lawfully recommended posthumous clemency for Herbert Macaulay, the nationalist and surveyor convicted in 1913, decades before Nigeria became a federation or had a National Assembly.

 “The trial and conviction of Herbert Macaulay occurred in the Colony of Lagos in 1913, long before Nigeria became a federation,” Odinkalu said.

 “How was he convicted of a crime created by the National Assembly?”, he demanded.

Odinkalu also faulted the committee for failing to review the trial records of Macaulay’s case before recommending his pardon, describing such oversight as a violation of the procedures guiding the exercise of executive mercy.

He accused the AGF of presiding over a process that had “abused constitutional power and diminished the sanctity of justice,” adding that Fagbemi’s subsequent claim that the pardon list was still “under review” after approval by the National Council of State and public announcement was both unlawful and absurd.

“The only reaction to this line is: pardon me?!” he quipped. “The HAGF did not cite any law as empowering him to do this because there is none. Important and powerful as the office of HAGF is, he lacks any lawful powers to make these things up as he goes along.”

Beyond legal irregularities, Odinkalu questioned the moral logic of placing national heroes such as Herbert Macaulay and the Ogoni Nine alongside persons convicted of serious crimes like drug trafficking, murder, kidnapping, and illegal mining.

“It is unthinkable that the government could persuade itself that the labours of our heroes past, among whose pantheon Herbert Macaulay is deservedly a doyen are best honoured by festooning them with the company of drug-lords, murderers, kidnappers, gun-runners and human traffickers,” he wrote.

Citing figures from the pardon list, he observed that 93 percent of the beneficiaries were convicted of grave offences: 29.2 percent for drug trafficking, 24 percent for illegal mining, 13.5 percent for murder, 12.3 percent for looting, and 5.8 percent for hijacking.

The rest, he said, covered offences such as kidnapping, robbery, and human trafficking.

Describing the exercise as “a bazaar of pardons,” Odinkalu claimed that it appeared designed to benefit the wealthy and politically connected.

 “The list of beneficiaries is so seedy, it reads like a bazaar for mostly people in a position to purchase the pardon,” he alleged, adding that “Those who do not fit this description, such as Herbert Macaulay or the Ogoni Nine, appear to have been inserted to lend credibility to a seedy assemblage.”

He drew historical parallels to earlier miscarriages of justice, including the 1887 arrest and trial of King Jaja of Opobo by the British Royal Niger Company and the 1995 execution of the Ogoni Nine under General Sani Abacha.

Odinkalu said it was ironic that Tinubu’s government, under the pretext of “national healing,” had chosen to pardon the Ogoni Nine while also freeing individuals convicted of crimes that continue to endanger public safety.

According to him, the consequences of the administration’s actions go beyond public morality.

He warned that the arbitrary exercise of mercy would erode national security and demoralize law enforcement agencies.

“Above all, the damage to national security cannot be quantified,” he said. “Law enforcement and security agents will be reluctant to break sweat in pursuit of serious offenders when they know that a president will cynically let the convicts loose to make prey of them.”

Odinkalu stated that the president’s foremost duty is to guarantee the safety and security of Nigerians a responsibility he accused President Tinubu of trivializing.