Oluwatosin Ogunjuyigbe
Bayo Onanuga, spokesperson to President Bola Tinubu, has defended his principal’s decision to revise the presidential pardon list, describing the move as a demonstration of strength rather than weakness.
On Wednesday, Tinubu ordered the removal of persons convicted for kidnapping, drug trafficking, human trafficking, fraud, and unlawful possession of firearms from the list of beneficiaries under the federal government’s prerogative of mercy.
On October 11, the president granted presidential pardon and other forms of clemency to 175 persons, following the approval of the Council of State.
One of the beneficiaries was Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death by hanging for stabbing her husband, Bilyamin Mohammed Bello, to death. However, after public backlash, Tinubu revoked Sanda’s pardon and reduced her sentence to 12 years’ imprisonment.
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‘The president listens and corrects himself’
Speaking on Prime Time, an Arise Television programme, on Thursday, Onanuga said Nigerians should understand that the president is human and capable of making mistakes.
“What Nigerians ought to have seen now is that this president is not one that is afraid to reverse himself if he feels like he’s made some error,” Onanuga said.
“He’s a human being. He can make mistakes. He listens to the public. This is a president who wakes up in the morning to read all Nigerian newspapers and to watch the TV and knows what’s going on.”
Onanuga said Tinubu’s willingness to reassess and amend decisions reflects leadership maturity.
“It’s a matter of strength for you to do something, appraise it and make some adjustments,” he said.
‘Criticism focused on Maryam Sanda’s case’
Responding to public criticism, the presidential aide said most objections to the clemency list centred on Sanda’s inclusion.
“Most of the criticisms were coming from the case of Maryam Sanda, whom the court found guilty and sentenced to death for killing her husband,” he said.
He added that although the revised list removed some categories of offenders, it still includes certain drug convicts who were granted clemency after due consideration.
“As to whether the president freed drug convicts, even the second list contains some drug offenders who were also given clemency,” Onanuga added.
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