October 09, (THEWILL) — President Bola Tinubu has granted presidential pardons to several prominent Nigerians, including posthumous clemency for nationalist Herbert Macaulay and former military officer, Major General Mamman Vatsa, who was executed for treason in 1986.
The decision followed recommendations approved by the National Council of State during its meeting held on Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Macaulay, a leading figure in Nigeria’s independence movement and co-founder of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), was convicted by the British colonial government in 1913 and barred from holding public office.
Nearly eight decades after his death in 1946, his name has now been formally cleared.
Also granted posthumous pardon was Major General Mamman Vatsa, a soldier, poet, and former minister, who was executed under the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida.
The list of those pardoned also includes four former convicts, ex-lawmaker Farouk Lawan, Mrs. Anastasia Daniel Nwaobia, Barrister Hussaini Umar, and Ayinla Saadu Alanamu, as well as Nweke Francis Chibueze, who had been serving a life sentence for drug-related offences, and Dr. Nwogu Peters, who served 12 years of a 17-year fraud conviction.
In addition, President Tinubu approved posthumous pardons for the Ogoni Nine, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, Baribor Bera, and Barinem Kiobel, who were executed in 1995 by the Abacha regime.
The President also conferred national honours on four notable Ogoni leaders: Chief Albert Badey, Chief Edward Kobani, Chief Samuel Orage, and Theophilus Orage.
Beyond the symbolic gestures, the President granted clemency to 82 inmates across Nigerian correctional facilities, approved sentence reductions for 65 others, and commuted seven death sentences to life imprisonment.
The recommendations emanated from 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).
According to Fagbemi, the committee reviewed 294 applications, applying criteria such as old age, terminal illness, long years in custody, demonstrated remorse, and evidence of rehabilitation through vocational training.
The PACPM was inaugurated in January 2025 by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, as part of efforts to promote justice reform, rehabilitation, and respect for human rights within Nigeria’s correctional system.
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