President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has granted posthumous pardons to Nigerian nationalist Herbert Macaulay and Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa, who was executed in 1986 after being convicted of treason.
The President also extended clemency to 82 inmates and approved a reduction of sentences for 65 others.
According to a statement issued by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, on Thursday, the decision followed the endorsement of recommendations made by the National Council of State, which met in Abuja.
Major General Vatsa, a renowned poet and former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, was among the 17 people who received presidential pardons.
He was executed during the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida on charges of treason, but many Nigerians have since viewed his conviction as unjust.
Also pardoned posthumously was Herbert Macaulay, a foremost nationalist and co-founder of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) alongside Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.
Macaulay, who died in 1946, had been unjustly convicted by the British colonial authorities in 1913 and barred from holding public office.
President Tinubu equally pardoned four former convicts, including Farouk Lawan, a former member of the House of Representatives; Mrs Anastasia Daniel Nwaobia; Barrister Hussaini Umar; and Ayinla Saadu Alanamu.
The statement explained that they were pardoned after showing remorse and readiness to reintegrate into society.
Also among those granted clemency were Nweke Francis Chibueze, serving a life sentence for cocaine offences, and Dr Nwogu Peters, who had served 12 out of his 17-year sentence for fraud.
In a move seen as symbolic, Tinubu also pardoned the Ogoni Nine; Ken Saro Wiwa, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine while awarding national honours posthumously to the Ogoni Four; Chief Albert Badey, Chief Edward Kobani, Chief Samuel Orage, and Theophilus Orage.
“In exercising his constitutional power of mercy, President Tinubu granted clemency to 82 inmates and reduced the prison terms of 65 others. He also commuted the death sentences of seven inmates to life imprisonment,” the statement read.
The President’s action was based on the recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM), chaired by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN. Other members included Chief Akinlolu Olujinmi, Prof. Alkasum Abba, Prof. (Mrs.) Nike Y. Sidikat Ijaiya, Justice Augustine B. Utsaha, and the Committee’s Secretary, Dr Onwusoro Maduka.
The statement further quoted the committee’s report presented to the Council of State as saying, “A total of 175 inmates were interviewed, and 62 applications were received on behalf of 119 inmates considered by the committee, making it a total of 294.
“Eighty-two inmates were recommended for clemency, two for pardon, sixty-five for reduction of prison terms, and seven death row inmates for commutation to life imprisonment.”
It added that “Fifteen ex-convicts were recommended for presidential pardon, eleven of them deceased, including the Ogoni Nine. The Ogoni Four were also recommended for posthumous national honours.”
The statement noted that the committee considered factors such as old age, terminal illness, length of time served, remorse, and exemplary conduct while in custody before making its recommendations.
It recalled that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, inaugurated the committee on January 15, 2025, as part of efforts to promote justice, rehabilitation, and human rights in Nigeria.
