President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has granted a presidential pardon to Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa, the late poet and military officer executed for treason in 1986 under the regime of General Ibrahim Babangida.
Vatsa was among 17 individuals granted clemency following the endorsement of the National Council of State, which met in Abuja on Thursday.
Also pardoned posthumously was Herbert Macaulay, the renowned nationalist and co-founder, along with Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC). Macaulay, who served as the party’s first president and played a pioneering role in Nigeria’s independence struggle, was unjustly convicted by British colonial authorities in 1913 and banned from public office. Although he died in 1946, the pardon formally clears his record after more than a century.
The President also extended pardons to four former convicts former House of Representatives member Farouk Lawan, Mrs Anastasia Daniel Nwaobia, Barrister Hussaini Umar, and Ayinla Saadu Alanamu to enable their reintegration into society after showing remorse.
Others who benefited from the presidential clemency include Nweke Francis Chibueze, serving a life sentence for cocaine offences, and Dr Nwogu Peters, who had served 12 years of a 17-year fraud sentence.
In a major symbolic gesture, Tinubu also approved formal pardons for the Ogoni Nine Ken Saro-Wiwa, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine who were executed in 1995 by the military government of General Sani Abacha.
In addition, he awarded national honours to the Ogoni Four Chief Albert Badey, Chief Edward Kobani, Chief Samuel Orage, and Theophilus Orage in recognition of their service and sacrifice.
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A statement issued by Presidential Spokesperson Mr Bayo Onanuga explained that President Tinubu acted on the recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM), chaired by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN). Other members include Chief Akinlolu Olujinmi (CON), Prof. Alkasum Abba, Prof. (Mrs.) Nike Sidikat Ijaiya, Justice Augustine B. Utsaha, and Dr Onwusoro Maduka, the committee’s secretary and a former permanent secretary.
Constitutional Exercise of Clemency
Under his constitutional powers 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.
Institutional representatives on the PACPM include officials from the Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Correctional Service, the National Human Rights Commission, the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
The committee’s report, presented to the Council of State on Thursday, detailed that 175 inmates were interviewed, with 82 recommended for clemency, two for pardon, 65 for reduced sentences, and seven death-row inmates for commutation.
Fifteen ex-convicts were also recommended for presidential pardon — including 11 posthumous cases such as the Ogoni Nine while the Ogoni Four were proposed for posthumous national honours.
The committee based its recommendations on several humanitarian criteria, including old age (60 years and above), terminal illness, youth (16 years and below), long service of sentences with good conduct, and acquisition of vocational skills. Others considered were those showing genuine remorse or having been recommended by correctional officers for exemplary behaviour.
The Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy was inaugurated on 15 January 2025 by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, as part of efforts to promote justice, rehabilitation, and human rights within Nigeria’s correctional system.
