President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved posthumous pardons for Nigerian nationalist Herbert Macaulay and Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa, alongside the release of 82 inmates and reduction of prison terms for 65 others across the country.
The decision followed the endorsement of the National Council of State, which met in Abuja on Thursday to consider the recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM).
Major General Mamman Vatsa, a poet and writer executed in 1986 after being convicted of treason, was granted a posthumous pardon by the President. Also pardoned was Herbert Macaulay, co-founder of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) and one of the key figures in Nigeria’s independence struggle. Macaulay had been unjustly convicted by the British colonial authorities in 1913 and barred from public service. Though he died in 1946, the conviction remained on record until now.
Among others pardoned are former lawmaker Farouk Lawan, Mrs Anastasia Daniel Nwaobia, Barrister Hussaini Umar and Ayinla Saadu Alanamu, all of whom were considered remorseful and rehabilitated. The President also pardoned Nweke Francis Chibueze, who was serving a life sentence for drug offences, and Dr Nwogu Peters, who had served 12 of a 17-year jail term for fraud.
In a landmark gesture of reconciliation, the President formally pardoned the Ogoni Nine — Ken Saro-Wiwa, Barinem Kiobel, Baribor Bera, and others — while also awarding posthumous national honours to Chief Albert Badey, Chief Edward Kobani, Chief Samuel Orage, and Theophilus Orage, known as the Ogoni Four.
Tinubu Exercises Power of Mercy
Exercising his constitutional power of mercy, President Tinubu ordered the release of 82 inmates, reduced the prison terms of 65 others, and commuted the death sentences of seven prisoners to life imprisonment.
The PACPM, chaired by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), has 12 members, including legal experts, academics and institutional representatives 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).
According to the committee’s final report presented to the Council of State, 294 applications were reviewed in total. Of these, 82 inmates were recommended for release, two for pardon, 65 for reduction of prison terms, and seven death row inmates for commutation to life imprisonment. Fifteen ex-convicts were recommended for presidential pardon, including 11 deceased individuals among the Ogoni Nine, while the Ogoni Four were proposed for posthumous national honours.
The committee considered applications based on criteria such as old age, terminal illness, youthfulness, long-term imprisonment with good conduct, remorse, and evidence of rehabilitation through vocational training.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, inaugurated the PACPM on January 15, 2025, as part of the administration’s effort to promote justice, rehabilitation, and human rights in Nigeria.
