By Ajibola Olaide, JKNewsMedia Reporter
HISTORIC JUSTICE has been extended to several prominent Nigerians as President Bola Tinubu approved a series of posthumous and conventional pardons following the endorsement of the National Council of State (NCS) in Abuja.
The move includes clemency for the late Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa, executed in 1986 over a treason charge, and Nigerian nationalist Herbert Macaulay, whose 1913 colonial conviction has now been formally expunged from national records.
The President’s decision, announced on Thursday after the Council of State meeting, followed recommendations from the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM).
The committee, chaired by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, presented its report detailing those qualified for executive clemency under constitutional provisions.
Major General Vatsa, a respected poet and soldier, was among 17 individuals granted pardons by President Tinubu.
His execution during the military administration of ex-Nigeria Military ruler, General Ibrahim Babangida has long remained one of the most controversial episodes in Nigeria’s political history.
The President’s posthumous pardon formally restores his civic dignity.
Also included in the historic clemency list is Herbert Macaulay, revered as one of Nigeria’s foremost nationalists and co-founder of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) alongside Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. Macaulay, who served as the party’s first president, was unjustly convicted by British colonial authorities in 1913 and barred from holding public office.
Although he died in 1946, his record of conviction remained until the present action by President Tinubu.
The President equally extended posthumous pardons to the Ogoni Nine namely Ken Saro-Wiwa, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine; formally clearing their names nearly three decades after their execution.
Additionally, national honours were conferred posthumously on the Ogoni Four: Chief Albert Badey, Chief Edward Kobani, Chief Samuel Orage, and Theophilus Orage, for their service and contributions to Nigeria.
President Tinubu further granted pardons to four living individuals such as former lawmaker Farouk Lawan, Mrs Anastasia Daniel Nwaobia, Barrister Hussaini Umar, and Ayinla Saadu Alanamu, allowing their reintegration into society after demonstrating what the Presidency described as “sufficient remorse.”
Others pardoned include Nweke Francis Chibueze, serving a life sentence for cocaine-related offences, and Dr Nwogu Peters, who had served twelve of his seventeen-year sentence for fraud.
In addition to individual pardons, the President exercised broader powers of mercy across Nigeria’s correctional system.
He granted clemency to eighty-two inmates, reduced the sentences of sixty-five others, and commuted the death sentences of seven inmates to life imprisonment.
The decisions were based on established criteria such as old age, critical illness, good conduct, and long-term incarceration.
According to the PACPM report presented to the Council of State, “a total of 175 inmates were interviewed, and 62 applications were received on behalf of 119 inmates considered by the committee, making a total of 294.”
The report further stated that “eighty-two inmates were recommended for clemency; two for pardon; sixty-five inmates for reduction of their terms of imprisonment, and seven inmates on death row for commutation to life imprisonment.”
The committee also recommended fifteen ex-convicts for presidential pardon, eleven of whom were deceased, including members of the Ogoni Nine.
It added that the Ogoni Four were recommended for posthumous national honours.
“On the whole, a total of one hundred and seventy-five beneficiaries are recommended,” the report noted.
The PACPM was inaugurated on 15 January 2025 by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, as part of the administration’s effort to promote justice, rehabilitation, and human rights in Nigeria.
Its membership includes Chief Akinlolu Olujinmi, Prof. Alkasum Abba, Prof. (Mrs) Nike Sidikat Ijaiya, Justice Augustine B. Utsaha, and Dr Onwusoro Maduka, who serves as Secretary.
Institutional representatives are drawn from the Nigeria Police Force, Nigerian Correctional Service, National Human Rights Commission, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
