By Zainab Rauf, Abuja President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved posthumous pardons for several historical figures, including nati...
By Zainab Rauf, Abuja
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved posthumous pardons for several historical figures, including nationalist Herbert Macaulay and Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa, as part of a broad exercise of presidential mercy endorsed by the National Council of State on Thursday in Abuja.
Macaulay, one of Nigeria’s founding nationalists and co-founder of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) alongside Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, was convicted by the British colonial authorities in 1913 and barred from holding public office. The presidential pardon effectively clears his name, nearly 80 years after his death in 1946.
Similarly, Vatsa — a renowned poet and military officer executed in 1986 for alleged treason — was granted a posthumous pardon, symbolically restoring his honour nearly four decades later.
In the same gesture, President Tinubu pardoned the Ogoni Nine — Ken Saro-Wiwa, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel and John Kpuine — all executed in 1995 under the Abacha regime. The President also conferred posthumous national honours on four other Ogoni leaders: Chief Albert Badey, Chief Edward Kobani, Chief Samuel Orage and Theophilus Orage.
Among those granted clemency were former House of Representatives member Farouk Lawan, Mrs. Anastasia Daniel Nwaobia, Barr. Hussaini Umar, and Ayinla Saadu Alanamu. The Presidency said they were pardoned to enable their reintegration into society after showing “sufficient remorse.”
Others include Nweke Francis Chibueze, serving a life sentence for cocaine-related offences, and Dr. Nwogu Peters, who had served 12 years of a 17-year term for fraud.
In total, President Tinubu approved clemency for 82 inmates, reduced the prison sentences of 65 others, and commuted the death sentences of seven inmates to life imprisonment.
According to 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), the recommendations were made after reviewing 294 applications.
The committee’s report stated that beneficiaries were selected based on criteria such as old age, terminal illness, long-term imprisonment with good conduct, and evidence of rehabilitation and remorse.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. George Akume, inaugurated the 12-member PACPM in January 2025 as part of the administration’s efforts to promote justice, rehabilitation, and human rights.
The special adviser to the President on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who announced the development, said the move reflects Tinubu’s “commitment to healing historical wounds and giving deserving Nigerians a second chance at dignity and reintegration.”
No comments