Legal practitioner and public affairs analyst, Frank Tietie, has said that President Bola Tinubu lacks the constitutional authority to revoke or reverse a presidential pardon once it has been lawfully granted.
Tietie made this known on Thursday during an interview on ARISE News Channel, while reacting to President Tinubu’s decision to rescind the presidential pardon earlier granted to several convicts, including death row inmate Maryam Sanda, whose clemency was later changed to a 12-year prison sentence.
According to Tietie, the act of granting pardon is an irreversible constitutional function that cannot be undone once exercised.
“At the time the president first signed the first list, it was a complete act that he did not have the power to reverse. It was already accepted,” he said.
“The president does not have the power to convict anybody. As of the time he completed the pardon of these persons, they were all free,” Tietie added.
He explained that the power of pardon, as provided in the Nigerian Constitution, does not include the right to withdraw or revoke such clemency once conferred.
“The president is not the judiciary. He cannot exercise judicial powers by saying you are no longer fit for pardon. It is not within his constitutional power,” the lawyer argued.
Tietie also criticised some of the administration’s broader policy decisions, noting that a truly responsive government would have revisited other key reforms affecting citizens.
“If we had a listening president in power, he would have reversed the fuel subsidy removal and increase in tariff,” he said.
President Tinubu’s decision to withdraw parts of the controversial state pardon—initially granted to 175 convicts but later reduced to 34—has continued to stir debate about the limits of presidential powers under Section 175 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
