Tinubu Grants Posthumous Pardons To Herbert Macaulay, Mamman Vatsa, And Ogoni Nine

— Frees 82 inmates, reduces sentences for 65 others in nationwide clemency exercise

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a wide-ranging exercise of presidential mercy, granting posthumous pardons to several historic figures — including nationalist Herbert Macaulay and the late Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa — as well as clemency to 82 inmates and commutation of death sentences for seven others.

The decision followed recommendations by the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM) and endorsement by the National Council of State, which met on Thursday at the State House, Abuja.

According to a State House statement signed by Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu also granted a posthumous pardon to the Ogoni Nine — the late environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and his eight colleagues executed in 1995 — and awarded national honours to the Ogoni Four: Chief Albert Badey, Chief Edward Kobani, Chief Samuel Orage, and Theophilus Orage.

Major General Mamman Vatsa, a poet and former minister who was executed in 1986 on treason charges, was also pardoned posthumously, while Herbert Macaulay’s century-old conviction by British colonial authorities was nullified. The President described the act as a symbolic gesture of historical justice, noting that Macaulay, co-founder of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) with Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, was wrongfully convicted and barred from public office in 1913.

Among the living, four former convicts — former lawmaker Farouk Lawan, Mrs. Anastasia Daniel Nwaobia, Barrister Hussaini Umar, and Ayinla Saadu Alanamu — were granted pardons after being adjudged remorseful and successfully rehabilitated. Others granted clemency include Nweke Francis Chibueze, serving a life sentence for drug offences, and Dr. Nwogu Peters, who had served 12 of a 17-year fraud sentence.

In total, the President approved clemency for 82 inmates, commuted seven death sentences to life imprisonment, and reduced the prison terms of 65 others.

The PACPM, chaired by Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), recommended the beneficiaries after assessing 294 cases nationwide. The committee’s criteria included old age, terminal illness, long-term incarceration with good conduct, and demonstrable remorse.

Other members of the committee include Chief Akinlolu Olujinmi (CON), Prof. Alkasum Abba, Prof. (Mrs.) Nike Sidikat Ijaiya, Justice Augustine Utsaha, and Dr. Onwusoro Maduka (Secretary), alongside institutional representatives from the Police, Correctional Service, National Human Rights Commission, and faith-based organizations.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, had inaugurated the committee on January 15, 2025, as part of President Tinubu’s broader reforms to promote justice, rehabilitation, and human rights in Nigeria.

The latest presidential action underscores what the State House described as President Tinubu’s “commitment to reconciliation, national healing, and restorative justice.”