President Bola Tinubu has granted presidential pardon and clemency to 175 Nigerians, including posthumous pardons for executed poet-soldier Major General Mamman Vatsa and independence hero Herbert Macaulay.
The announcement came after the National Council of State meeting on Thursday, October 9, in Abuja.
Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said the decision demonstrates Tinubu’s commitment to justice, compassion, and healing old wounds.
The clemency list includes former lawmaker Farouk Lawan, Mrs. Anastasia Daniel Nwaobia, Barrister Hussaini Umar, and Ayinla Saadu Alanamu, all described as showing genuine remorse and willingness to reintegrate into society.
Major General Mamman Vatsa, a respected poet and military officer executed in 1986 following a controversial treason conviction, received a pardon nearly 40 years after his death.
Herbert Macaulay, celebrated as the father of Nigerian nationalism and co-founder of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), was also pardoned. Macaulay had been convicted by British colonial authorities in 1913.
The pardon package includes clemency for 82 inmates, sentence reductions for 65 others, and the commutation of 7 death sentences to life imprisonment.
In what many see as a powerful gesture of reconciliation,
Tinubu also pardoned the Ogoni Nine, Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other environmental activists executed in 1995 under military rule: Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine.
Four other Ogoni leaders, Chief Albert Badey, Chief Edward Kobani, Chief Samuel Orage, and Theophilus Orage, received posthumous national honours.
The clemency initiative was driven by recommendations from the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM), led by Attorney-General Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).
The committee, inaugurated in January 2025 by Secretary to the Government Senator George Akume, was set up to promote justice, rehabilitation, and human rights within Nigeria’s prison system.
After reviewing 294 cases, the PACPM recommended 82 clemencies, 2 pardons, 65 sentence reductions, 7 death sentence commutations, and 15 posthumous pardons.
The committee considered factors like advanced age (60 and above), terminal illness, youth offenders (16 and below), good behavior in custody, and evidence of remorse.
