Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned President Bola Tinubu’s recent grant of presidential pardon, describing it as a reckless abuse of executive power that weakens the justice system and emboldens criminality in the country.

In a statement issued at the weekend, Atiku said the decision to extend clemency to individuals convicted of serious crimes such as drug trafficking, kidnapping, murder, and corruption was both “shocking and indefensible.”

He argued that the essence of a presidential pardon — a constitutional prerogative meant to temper justice with mercy — had been grossly misused by the Tinubu administration. According to him, the act has diminished the sanctity of justice and sent the wrong message to Nigerians and the international community about the government’s moral values.

“At a time when Nigeria continues to reel under insecurity, moral decay, and rising drug-related offences, it is deeply troubling that the presidency would prioritize clemency for those whose actions have undermined national stability and social order,” the statement read.

Atiku cited reports indicating that nearly 30 percent of those pardoned were convicted for drug-related crimes, describing the move as particularly insensitive given the country’s ongoing struggle with narcotics abuse and its tarnished global image on drug issues.

The former vice president also drew attention to what he called “the moral irony” of the decision, referencing past controversies surrounding President Tinubu’s alleged links to drug-related investigations in the United States.

“It is, therefore, no surprise that this administration continues to demonstrate a worrying tolerance for individuals associated with criminal enterprise,” he stated.

Atiku warned that the pardon had made a “mockery of the criminal justice system,” discouraged law enforcement agencies, and dishonoured victims of serious crimes.

“Clemency must never be confused with complicity,” he said. “When a government begins to absolve offenders of the very crimes it claims to be fighting, it erodes the moral authority of leadership and emboldens lawlessness.”

The former vice president concluded by urging Nigerians to demand a leadership that upholds justice and integrity.

“Nigeria deserves a leadership that strengthens justice, not one that trivializes it,” Atiku said.

President Bola Tinubu is scheduled to jet out of Abuja today for Rome, to attend the Aqaba Process Heads of State and Government-Level Meeting, which will focus on tackling the worsening security crisis in West Africa.

His spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed this in a statement issued on Saturday.

Onanuga said the high-level summit, scheduled to begin on October 14, will convene African leaders, senior military and intelligence officials, as well as representatives from intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, to deliberate on emerging threats undermining peace and stability in the sub-region.

Launched in 2015 by King Abdullah II of Jordan, the Aqaba Process serves as a global counter-terrorism platform co-chaired by Jordan and the Italian Government.

It seeks to strengthen international collaboration against terrorism and organised crime networks that have increasingly destabilised parts of Africa.

Onanuga stated that the 2025 edition will address the spread of extremist groups in the Sahel, the growing nexus between terrorism and organised crime, and the rising overlap between land-based insurgencies and maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.

According to the Presidency, discussions will centre on practical strategies to counter terror threats both on land and at sea, enhance regional intelligence sharing, and tackle online radicalisation by disrupting digital platforms used for terrorist propaganda and recruitment.

During the visit, President Tinubu is also expected to hold bilateral talks with other world leaders aimed at reinforcing security cooperation and developing collective responses to West Africa’s cross-border challenges.

The President will be accompanied by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar; National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed; and other senior government officials.

The Aqaba Process remains one of the most influential multilateral efforts promoting global unity in countering violent extremism and ensuring long-term stability in vulnerable regions.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado dedicated her Nobel Peace Prize on Friday to the people of Venezuela — and US President Donald Trump, for his “decisive support” for her country’s pro-democracy movement.

“I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!” she wrote on X.

“We are on the threshold of victory and today, more than ever, we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our principal allies to achieve Freedom and democracy,” she added.

Machado has been in hiding in Venezuela for the past year since elections that authoritarian leftist President Nicolas Maduro is accused of stealing.

Machado, who was barred from contesting the election, campaigned instead for her stand-in, ex-diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, seen by much of the international community as the rightful winner.

The Nobel Committee cited her “tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”

Machado, 58, has backed Trump’s ongoing campaign of military pressure on Maduro, including a major US naval deployment near Venezuela, as a “necessary measure” towards a democratic transition in Venezuela.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared Machado’s post dedicating her Nobel to Trump on her X account.

Several of Machado’s fellow opposition leaders, including two-time former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, congratulated her on her prize.

“May this recognition be another boost to achieve PEACE and for our Venezuela to leave behind the suffering and recover the freedom and democracy for which it has fought for so many years,” Capriles wrote on X.