President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has granted presidential pardon and clemency to 175 convicts and former convicts, including posthumous exonerations for prominent historical figures such as Ken Saro-Wiwa, Sir Herbert Macaulay, and Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa.
The development followed the presentation of the report of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, chaired by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), at the Council of State meeting presided over by President Tinubu on Thursday.
According to the report, the President approved pardon for two inmates and 15 former convicts—11 of whom are deceased—clemency for 82 inmates, commutation of sentences for 65 others, and the conversion of death sentences to life imprisonment for seven inmates.
A statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, said the beneficiaries were considered based on remorse, good conduct, age, ill health, and evidence of rehabilitation, including vocational training or enrolment in the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).
Among those pardoned are Hon. Farouk Lawan, convicted in 2021 for corrupt practices; Barrister Hussaini Alhaji Umar, sentenced in 2023 in connection with an ICPC case; and Dr. Nwogu Peters, who had served part of his 17-year jail term for fraud.
Also on the list is Maryam Sanda, convicted in 2020 for culpable homicide. Her release was based on her family’s plea, citing her good conduct, remorse, and commitment to rehabilitation in prison.
In a symbolic move, President Tinubu also posthumously pardoned the late Sir Herbert Macaulay, who was convicted by British colonial authorities in 1913, describing the act as a correction of a “historic injustice.”
The President extended similar posthumous pardons to Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa, executed in 1986 over an alleged coup plot, and the Ogoni Nine, including environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, who were executed in 1995. Their victims—Chief Albert Badey, Chief Edward Kobaru, Chief Samuel Orage, and Chief Theophilus Orage—were officially honoured.
Furthermore, seven inmates on death row had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment. They include Emmanuel Baba, sentenced in 2017 for culpable homicide, and Moses Ayodele Olorunfemi, who had spent 13 years on death row for a similar offence.
Prince Fagbemi said the clemency exercise demonstrates the President’s commitment to justice reform, fairness, and rehabilitation within Nigeria’s correctional system.
Meanwhile, Senator Ikra Aliyu Bilbis signed an undertaking to oversee the rehabilitation and empowerment of all illegal miners who benefited from the presidential clemency.
According to Onanuga, the President’s decision reflects his belief in restorative justice and the reintegration of reformed citizens into society.
