Tinubu Grants Posthumous Pardon To Ogoni Nine, Herbert Macaulay, Others

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has granted posthumous pardons to several historical and contemporary figures, including the Ogoni Nine, Nigerian nationalist Herbert Macaulay, and Major-General Mamman Vatsa.

The President also approved clemency for 82 inmates across Nigeria and national honours for 959 Nigerians and foreigners.The announcement was made following the meeting of the National Council of State held in Abuja on Thursday.

The decision followed recommendations from the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, chaired by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).

Herbert Macaulay, co-founder of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) with Nnamdi Azikiwe, had been convicted by British colonial authorities in 1913 and banned from public service.

Although he died in 1946, his record remained tainted until the new presidential pardon cleared his name.Also among those pardoned was Major-General Mamman Vatsa, a soldier and poet executed in 1986 during the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida over an alleged coup attempt.

Farouk Lawan, former lawmaker; Mrs. Anastasia Daniel Nwaobia; Hussaini Umar; and Ayinla Saadu Alanamu were also beneficiaries.

The Ogoni Nine — Ken Saro-Wiwa, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine — who were executed in 1995 under General Sani Abacha’s government, were officially pardoned.

The Ogoni Four — Chief Albert Badey, Chief Edward Kobani, Chief Samuel Orage, and Theophilus Orage — received posthumous national honours.The statement from the presidency revealed that 65 inmates had their prison terms reduced, while the death sentences of seven others were converted to life imprisonment.

The committee reviewed 294 applications and interviewed 175 inmates across the country before making its recommendations based on health, age, conduct, and rehabilitation progress.

The move is seen as part of Tinubu’s ongoing justice sector reforms aimed at promoting reconciliation, rehabilitation, and reintegration of deserving individuals into society.