President Bola Tinubu has approved presidential pardons for Nigerian nationalist Herbert Macaulay, late Major-General Mamman Vatsa, and former lawmaker Farouk Lawan, along with 14 others, following recommendations by the National Council of State.
The announcement came on Thursday in Abuja through the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who said the move aimed to promote restorative justice and decongest the nation’s prisons.
“This act of clemency is part of President Tinubu’s broader commitment to justice reform and national reconciliation,” Onanuga said.
Herbert Macaulay, often called the father of Nigerian nationalism, was posthumously pardoned more than a century after his 1913 conviction by colonial authorities barred him from public service.
He died in 1946, but the symbolic pardon erases the lingering stain of that conviction from national history.
Also pardoned was Mamman Vatsa, a poet, soldier, and member of the Supreme Military Council who was executed in 1986 under General Ibrahim Babangida for an alleged coup attempt — a case still considered one of Nigeria’s most controversial military trials.
Farouk Lawan and Others Freed
The President’s pardon also covered Farouk Lawan, the former House of Representatives member convicted of bribery in 2021. Others include Anastasia Daniel Nwaobia, Hussaini Umar, and Ayinla Saadu Alanamu, described as inmates who had shown “sufficient remorse and readiness to reintegrate into society.”
Under the clemency, Nweke Francis Chibueze, serving a life term for cocaine trafficking, and Nwogu Peters, jailed for fraud, were released after serving over a decade each.
Overall, the Council approved presidential mercy for 82 inmates, reduced the sentences of 65 others, and commuted seven death penalties to life imprisonment.
Ogoni Nine and Ogoni Four Honoured
In a symbolic gesture of reconciliation, President Tinubu also granted posthumous pardons to the Ogoni Nine, led by environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, executed in 1995 under General Sani Abacha.
He further awarded posthumous national honours to the Ogoni Four — Albert Badey, Edward Kobani, Samuel Orage, and Theophilus Orage — for their role in the Niger Delta struggle.
The decision followed recommendations from the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM), chaired by Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).
Other members included Akinlolu Olujinmi, Alkasum Abba, Nike Sidikat Ijaiya, Augustine Utsaha, and Onwusoro Maduka (secretary), alongside representatives of the Police, Correctional Service, National Human Rights Commission, NSCIA, and CAN.
The committee, inaugurated by SGF George Akume in January 2025, reviewed 294 applications and interviewed 175 inmates. It considered criteria such as old age, terminal illness, long sentences, good conduct, and rehabilitation potential.
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