Legal practitioner and analyst, Frank Tietie, has faulted President Bola Tinubu’s recent reversal of pardons earlier granted to certain convicts, saying such an action has no constitutional backing.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Wednesday, Tietie stated that once a presidential pardon is granted, it becomes final and cannot be revoked under any circumstance.
He said, “At the time the president signed the first list, it was a complete act that he does not have the power to reverse. It was already accepted.”
The lawyer explained that the power of pardon, once exercised, automatically restores the freedom of those concerned, and cannot later be withdrawn.
“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,” he added.
Tietie argued that by reversing the earlier pardons, the president was overstepping into judicial territory.
“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,” he said.
Tietie’s comments come after President Tinubu on Wednesday commuted the death sentence of Maryam Sanda — who was convicted for killing her husband — to 12 years imprisonment, while also reportedly reviewing some other presidential pardons.