ADC Slams President Tinubu Over Mass Pardon of Convicted Drug Traffickers

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has strongly rebuked President Bola Tinubu’s administration for including over 30 convicted drug offenders and smugglers in the recent comprehensive list of 175 beneficiaries of the 2025 presidential pardon.

In a statement released on Sunday, October 12, 2025, the ADC, through its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, labelled the clemency a “most irresponsible abuse of the presidential power of prerogative of mercy.” The party argued that the mass pardons, which also covered individuals convicted of homicide, illegal mining, and fraud, directly undercut the nation’s strenuous efforts to combat drug abuse and trafficking.

“Nigeria is still regarded as a major transit point for illicit drugs, while we face a serious national pandemic of drug use, especially among our youths,” the statement read, citing Nigeria’s drug use rate as nearly three times the global average. The ADC stressed that the action fundamentally “makes a mockery of the gallant efforts” of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) officers who risk their lives to dismantle illicit drug networks and secure convictions.

Furthermore, the opposition party warned that the clemency would have grave international implications. They posited that the move risks undermining Nigeria’s cooperation with global partners and creates the “unfortunate impression” that the country, under President Tinubu, has “particular sympathy for drug dealers” and is a “risk-free jurisdiction for traffickers in narcotics.”

In its defense of the exercise, the Presidency, through the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, maintained that the decision was part of a due judicial-clemency process. He noted that the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy considered factors like the applicants’ remorse and rehabilitation before recommending the pardons and commutations.

The ADC, however, remains resolute, concluding that the administration is “redefining the standard of morality” by transforming Nigeria into a country “where anything goes.”