President Bola Tinubu has granted posthumous pardons to several key historical figures, including Nigeria’s founding nationalist Herbert Macaulay, former FCT Minister Maj.-Gen. Mamman Vatsa, members of the Ogoni Nine, and former House of Representatives member Farouk Lawan.
He also posthumously pardoned Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, a prominent leader of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC).
In addition, the President pardoned four former convicts, including Anastasia Daniel Nwaobia, Hussaini Umar, and Ayinla Alanamu, who were said to have shown sufficient remorse and readiness to reintegrate into society.
Nweke Francis Chibueze, serving a life sentence for cocaine-related offences, and Nwogu Peters, who had served 12 of a 17-year sentence for fraud, were also granted clemency.
The President further conferred national honours on the Ogoni Four — Chief Albert Badey, Chief Edward Kobani, Chief Samuel Orage, and Theophilus Orage.
Exercising his constitutional powers of mercy, Tinubu approved clemency for 82 inmates, reduced the prison terms of 65 others, and commuted the death sentences of seven inmates to life imprisonment.
According to the President’s Special Adviser, Bayo Onanuga, the clemency decisions were based on recommendations from the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM).
The committee’s final report was presented to the National Council of State during its meeting on Thursday in Abuja, in line with constitutional requirements.
The report noted, “A total of 175 inmates were interviewed, and 62 applications were received on behalf of 119 inmates considered by the committee, making it a total of 294.
“One hundred and sixty of the inmates interviewed were male, while 15 were female. Eighty-two inmates were recommended for clemency; two (2) for pardon; sixty-five (65) inmates for reduction of their terms of imprisonment, and seven (7) inmates on death row for commutation to life imprisonment.
“Also, fifteen (15) ex-convicts were recommended for Presidential Pardon, eleven (11) of them are deceased (including Ogoni 9). The Ogoni four (4) were also recommended for the Post-Humous National Honours Award.
“On the whole, a total of one hundred and seventy-five (175) beneficiaries are recommended.’’
The committee had acted on the following criteria: old age (60 years and above); ill health likely to terminate in death; young persons (16 years and below); long-term convicts who have served prison terms of 10 years or more with a good record; and convicts serving three years or more
“Those who have been in Custodial centres, learnt sustainable vocational trades capable of keeping them away from crime; those who are adjudged remorseful; those who Correctional Officers recommended for exemplary behaviour and Nigerian prisoners deported from other countries.
Macaulay was the party’s first president, which played a pivotal role in Nigeria’s struggle for independence. However, in 1913, Macaulay was believed unjustly convicted by the British colonialists and banned from public office.
He died in 1946, but the stigma of being an ex-convict was not exorcised from his records until now.
Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa, sentenced to death over a treason charge in 1986, has received a posthumous pardon from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Vatsa, a poet, was among the 17 people who received presidential pardons following the endorsement of the National Council of State, which met in Abuja on Thursday.
The Ogoni Nine, including activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, were executed in 1995 under the Abacha regime following a trial condemned internationally as politically motivated and unfair.
