A human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, has hailed the review of the presidential pardon list, but questioned why the initial names were made public without due diligence.

Effiong spoke on Thursday when he was featured as a guest on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, claiming that some of the names on the initial list may have been intentionally pencilled down or that President Bola Tinubu’s advisers failed in doing their job.

“To some extent, to his [Tinubu’s] credit, it was good that the list has been reviewed. The initial list was an embarrassment; it was a dent, not only on this country, but on the character of the government itself,” the lawyer said on the breakfast show.

“So, when some of us came out publicly to distance ourselves from you, to deprecate the names that appeared on that list, we expected that something would be done about it,” he added.

President Tinubu had reviewed the initial list of those pardoned following a backlash over the inclusion of people convicted of serious crimes such as kidnapping, drug-related offences, human trafficking, and fraud, among others.

“This action became necessary in view of the seriousness and security implications of some of the offences, the need to be sensitive to the feelings of the victims of the crimes and society in general, the need to boost the morale of law enforcement agencies, and adherence to bilateral obligations,” presidential aide, Bayo Onanuga, said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The concept of justice as a three-way traffic for the Accused, the Victim, and the State/Society also guided the review,” he added.

But Effiong faulted the President for releasing the initial list, claiming the action may be deliberate.

“So I am making a case that while it is commendable that the President had tinkered a bit with the list, we must now ask a legitimate question about the manner in which the decisions are being taken by this government.

“What this speaks to is that either this was done intentionally to send a message to Nigerians that, as far as the issue of pardon is concerned, these are the categories of avoidances that the President has interest in, or those who have responsibility to advise the President may have either been compromised or grossly incompetent,” the lawyer said. (CHANNELS)