The Council of State led by President Tinubu on Thursday approved the exercise of the presidential prerogative of mercy for 175 individuals across various categories
The announcement followed a presentation by Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), who conveyed President Bola Tinubu’s recommendations based on the report of the Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy during the Council’s meeting at the State House, Abuja.
While the full list of beneficiaries has not yet been made public, sources revealed that pardons were granted posthumously to one of Nigeria’s founding fathers, Herbert Macaulay, and former FCT minister in the Babangida era, Maj-Gen. Mamman Vatsa (retd). Members of the Ogoni Nine and Ogoni Four also received clemency.
“Herbert Macaulay and Vatsa are among the two major ones on that list,” a source present at the meeting told our correspondent.
Macaulay, widely regarded as the “father of Nigerian nationalism,” was twice convicted by colonial authorities in Lagos. In 1913, while working as a surveyor, he was jailed for alleged misappropriation of funds from an estate he managed. In 1928, following publications by his Lagos Daily News during the Eleko (Oba of Lagos) agitation, he was convicted of sedition in the “Gunpowder Plot” case and sentenced to six months with hard labour. Historians have long debated the fairness of both prosecutions.
Vatsa, a poet, former FCT minister, and member of the Supreme Military Council, was executed by firing squad on March 5, 1986, after a secret military tribunal convicted him of treason for an alleged coup against then-military ruler Ibrahim Babangida, his childhood friend. His case has remained controversial, with periodic calls for a posthumous pardon.
Of the 175 beneficiaries, 82 inmates received full presidential pardons, 65 had their sentences reduced, and seven death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment.
Briefing State House correspondents after the meeting, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani said, “82 of the inmates were granted full pardon, 65 had their sentences reduced, while seven death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment. The decision underscores the President’s commitment to justice and correctional reform.”
The meeting, chaired by President Tinubu, also ratified key appointments, including Dr. Aminu Yusuf from Niger State as Chairman of the National Population Commission and Tonge Bularafa as Federal Commissioner representing Yobe State in the Commission, both of which were approved unanimously.
