ABUJA, Nigeria — Senator Dino Melaye has criticised President Bola Tinubu over the recent presidential clemency granted to inmates, alleging that about 70 of those pardoned were convicted for drug-related offences.
In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, October 12, 2025, Melaye described the action as “unprecedented in history,” claiming that no government anywhere in the world had granted such a large-scale pardon to convicted drug traffickers.
“Pardon granted 70 drug lords by President Tinubu is unprecedented in history,” Melaye wrote.
“Checks have revealed that it has never happened in the history of the world. My advice to the President is to scrap the NDLEA. His action has made a beautiful nonsensical of all the efforts of the agency since inception.”
President Tinubu last week approved the release or sentence reduction of 175 people under a broad presidential clemency initiative.
Among those named were nationalist Herbert Macaulay, late environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, and Major General Mamman Vatsa, all of whom received posthumous pardons.
Others included Maryam Sanda, who had been sentenced to death for killing her husband, and former lawmaker Farouk Lawan.
The clemency exercise, approved by the National Council of State and implemented on the advice of the presidential advisory committee on the prerogative of mercy, was defended by the presidency as a step rooted in rehabilitation and justice reform.
Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said most beneficiaries had shown “remorse and good conduct” and that some had acquired vocational skills or pursued academic study through the National Open University of Nigeria while in prison.
He added that others were granted release on humanitarian grounds, such as old age or ill health.