Much Ado About A Presidential Defence

Last week, successful my file The Theatre of Presidential Pardon, I made a factual error. I had written that the lawsuit of Maryam Sanda, convicted of sidesplitting her husband, was inactive pending earlier the Supreme Court. A adjacent person aboriginal called to pass maine that the lawsuit had been decided successful 2023, with the apex tribunal affirming her condemnation and sentence. I admit that oversight. However, each different statement I made successful that portion — astir the nature, timing, and doctrine of mercy successful governance — remains valid.

It was truthful with interest, and a small amusement, that I work the portion by Mr. Tunde Rahman, Senior Special Assistant to the President connected Media and Special Duties, published successful Vanguard connected October 19, 2025, nether the rubric Much Ado About a Presidential Pardon. Mr. Rahman accused maine of having “gone overboard” successful my disapproval of the statesmanlike pardon and of proceeding “on a incorrect premise.” He besides alleged that I “lied that the pardon was granted earlier the last determination of the case.” That is simply a dense word, “lied.” It suggests intent to deceive, which I cull absolutely. My mistake was factual, not moral, and has been corrected. But the greater statement — the wisdom, scope, and symbolism of clemency — inactive begs for reasoned speech alternatively than reflex defense.

Mercy and Its Boundaries

Mr. Rahman is close astir 1 thing: The 1999 Constitution gives the President the prerogative of mercy. No superior commentator disputes that. What Nigerians question is not the beingness of the powerfulness but the discretion with which it was exercised. Law, arsenic jurists punctual us, was made for man, not antheral for law. And mercy, similar law, indispensable person proportionality and prudence.

In some theology and jurisprudence, mercy is meant to cleanable justice, not to extinguish it. Misericordia non tollit justitiam — mercy does not annul justice. When Abraham Lincoln pardoned deserters during the Civil War, helium distinguished betwixt fearfulness and treason. When King Charles II granted amnesty aft the Restoration, helium withheld it from those whose crimes struck astatine the bosom of the realm. Clemency has ne'er meant indulgence; it has ever demanded motivation reasoning.

The caller Nigerian pardons, however, rise uneasy questions. By what ethical compass was this database drawn? Was repentance tested, oregon was mercy distributed wholesale — a bureaucratic benevolence wrapped successful ceremony?

The Ethics of State Mercy

Mr. Rahman assures america that galore beneficiaries person shown remorse, learned trades, oregon earned degrees successful prison. That is admirable, but rehabilitation unsocial does not erase crimes that imperil society. A repentant arsonist cannot beryllium released into a metropolis inactive burning. The state’s archetypal work is protection; mercy cannot contradict safety.
Across civilised jurisdictions, the powerfulness of pardon is some motivation and symbolic. Used wisely, it humanises authority; utilized casually, it trivialises justice. Presidents and monarchs person ever known that clemency is not an enactment of generosity but of governance. In astir democracies, pardon applications spell done rigorous scrutiny — reviews by justness departments, nationalist transparency, and a wide motivation rationale.
In Nigeria, the process progressive the Advisory Committee connected the Prerogative of Mercy and the National Council of State, a distinguished assembly of existent and past leaders. That is precisely wherefore this result is truthful troubling. If specified eminent minds could endorse mercy for those whose actions contributed to the nation’s trauma, what became of discernment? Was determination nary quiescent dependable astatine that array whispering, “Mr. President, this 1 whitethorn coiled the nationalist conscience”? We whitethorn ne'er know, for the minutes of that gathering volition stay sealed.

History’s Gentle Lessons

Mr. Rahman invokes examples from abroad: Clinton pardoning his brother, Biden his son, Trump his in-laws. He mightiness person added that these precise pardons became cautionary tales of excess. History, erstwhile work carefully, is simply a stern teacher. Andrew Johnson’s sweeping post-Civil War pardons astir shattered America’s fragile union. Louis XVI’s indulgence of corrupt nobles hastened his autumn to the guillotine. Julius Caesar’s amnesties earned him daggers successful the Senate. Even Mandela, whose forgiveness reshaped a nation, insisted that mercy indispensable basal connected truth; helium forgave, but helium ne'er pretended.

Context is everything. Nigeria’s discourse is 1 of insecurity, poverty, and motivation fatigue. Our citizens aftermath each time to quality of abductions and killings; they unrecorded down robust gates and whispered prayers. To denote a wide pardon including murderers, kidnappers, and cause traffickers successful specified an ambiance feels similar playing the violin portion the metropolis burns. Mercy indispensable not outpace motivation timing. Compassion is noble, but erstwhile poorly timed it ca...