In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by the Union’s Convener, Olusola Badero, alongside its Home Director, Princess Balogun, the group accused President Tinubu of creating a political culture that could one day allow individuals with criminal records, including drug traffickers, murderers, and economic saboteurs, to ascend to positions of leadership and power.
The Yoruba Union, Ìgbìnmó Májékóbájé Ilé-Yorùbá, has condemned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s decision to grant clemency to convicted criminals, describing it as a dangerous move that undermines the rule of law and threatens the moral foundation of the nation.
In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by the Union’s Convener, Olusola Badero, alongside its Home Director, Princess Balogun, the group accused President Tinubu of creating a political culture that could one day allow individuals with criminal records, including drug traffickers, murderers, and economic saboteurs, to ascend to positions of leadership and power.
“The decision to pardon individuals convicted of heinous crimes such as murder, drug trafficking, and illegal mining represents a grave miscarriage of justice,” it said.
“By absolving convicted criminals through political influence, President Tinubu is normalising impunity at the highest level of governance. This action erodes public confidence in the judiciary, weakens democratic institutions, and sends a wrong message that crime pays in Nigeria.”
The Union described Tinubu’s action as a betrayal of justice, morality, and the Yoruba heritage that upholds Omolúàbí values, that is, integrity, accountability, and respect for life.
“How can a president of a country wake up one day and announce he is going to pardon murderers and drug barons, at a time when Nigeria is facing overwhelming challenges such as insecurity, poverty, unemployment, decaying education, and a collapsing health sector?” the statement queried.
The Yoruba Union argued that the presidential pardon for convicts, including those found guilty of economic sabotage and capital offences, shows a lack of sensitivity to the plight of victims and their families.
The group specifically cited the pardon granted to Maryam Sanda, who was convicted for killing her husband, Bilyamin Bello, the son of a former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman.
“While the parents of Bilyamin Bello still live with the pain and trauma of losing their son, the government has chosen to reward his killer with freedom.
“Would they find peace knowing that the same country that convicted their son’s murderer has now pardoned her for political reasons? Such acts of favoritism destroy the moral compass of our society,” the Union said.
The Ìgbìn Májékóbájé Ilé-Yorùbá also drew attention to President Tinubu’s own controversial past, referencing the 1993 U.S. court ruling that linked him to narcotics trafficking.
The United States District Court, presided over by Magistrate Judge John A. Rijcklo, found that Tinubu and his associates “peddled drugs on a large scale,” describing the operations as “substantial.”
Rijcklo ruled that the funds recovered from Tinubu represented “proceeds of narcotics trafficking and property involved in money laundering, in violation of U.S. Code 18 USC §§ 1956 and 1957.”
“It is deeply troubling,” the Yoruba Union said, “that someone who once forfeited $460,000 to the U.S. government as proceeds from drug trafficking now holds the power to pardon others convicted of similar crimes. What moral standing does such a leader have to speak about law, justice, and integrity?”
The group warned that Nigeria risks becoming a nation where criminals and corrupt politicians dominate leadership positions while law-abiding citizens are marginalised, silenced, or punished.
“When the state chooses to pardon murderers and drug traffickers but continues to prosecute farmers and ordinary citizens for defending their lives and livelihoods, justice loses all meaning,” it said.
To illustrate the hypocrisy in Nigeria’s justice system, the Yoruba Union recalled the case of a farmer named Jackson in Adamawa State, who was sentenced to death in 2013 after killing a Fulani herder in self-defence.
According to the group, Jackson had pleaded that the herder attacked him with a weapon after invading his farmland with cattle, yet he was convicted of culpable homicide and sentenced to die by hanging.
“In a country where a poor farmer defending himself is condemned to death, while a convicted murderer walks free by presidential pardon, there is no justice, only selective mercy,” the group stated.