The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has said that President Bola Tinubu’s decision to review and partially reverse the earlier presidential pardon list is an act of strength. He recently revealed that the President displayed his compassion as a leader when he reviewed the list.
Speaking on Arise TV’s Prime Time programme, Onanuga shared that Tinubu is never scared to admit his mistakes and make corrections where necessary.
According to him, BAT is a leader who reads the newspapers, watches TV, and monitors news updates daily, just to keep up with the needs of the people.
He stated that Nigeria is blessed with a compassionate president who is never scared to rectify any costly error he makes.
“Tinubu is not afraid to reverse himself once he makes errors. This is a president that wakes up in the morning and reads all newspapers, watches TV to monitor news updates. He is a compassionate president who is not afraid to check what he has done and take corrections,” he said.
He further clarified that those who benefited from the clemency, including Maryam Sanda and others with drug-related cases, were granted clemency, not pardons, after careful consideration of humanitarian grounds and recommendations from correctional authorities.
Bayo concluded by saying that the government considered the principle of rehabilitation and remorse while granting clemency to some of the convicts.
“Maryam Sanda’s case is complicated because she has children, and the father is no more. Who will take care of them? It was a crime of passion, not premeditated. The biological father of her husband, Alhaji Ahmed Bello Isa, even pleaded for forgiveness.
If someone has committed a drug offence, has served a major part of his sentence, shown remorse, and become a reformed person, the state must have a heart of forgiveness. Custodial centres themselves are established to be correctional.
What the government has done in this case is to move the duty from the Special Duties office and place it under the Ministry of Justice for better accuracy,” he added.
