President Bola Tinubu on Thursday granted posthumous presidential pardons to the late nationalist, Herbert Macaulay, and a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, the late Major General Mamman Vatsa, alongside 15 others.

The gesture formed part of sweeping approvals for clemency endorsed by the National Council of State during its Thursday meeting at the State House, Abuja.

The President also approved clemency for 82 inmates, commuted seven death sentences to life imprisonment, and reduced the prison terms of 65 others, acting on recommendations from the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy chaired by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi.

“Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa, sentenced to death over a treason charge in 1986, has received a posthumous pardon from President Bola Tinubu,” read a statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.

Vatsa, a poet and former FCT minister, was executed in 1986 after a military tribunal convicted him of treason in an alleged coup plot against then Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida.

The case remains one of the most controversial in Nigeria’s military history, with persistent public calls for his posthumous exoneration nearly four decades after his execution.

Also pardoned was Macaulay, widely regarded as the father of Nigerian nationalism and co-founder of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons with Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.

In 1913, colonial authorities convicted Macaulay of misappropriation while serving as a trustee of an estate, sentencing him to prison and barring him from public office.

Historians have long argued that the prosecution was politically motivated, designed to silence his growing anti-colonial activism.

“Macaulay died in 1946, but the stigma of being an ex-convict was not exorcised from his records until now,” Onanuga noted.

“President Tinubu also pardoned four former convicts, including former House of Representatives member, Farouk Lawan, Mrs Anastasia Nwaobia, Hussaini Umar and Ayinla Alanamu.

“They were pardoned to enable them to integrate into society, having demonstrated sufficient remorse.

“Nweke Chibueze, serving a life sentence for cocaine, was pardoned, along with Dr Nwogu Peters, who had served 12 out of his 17-year sentence for fraud,” Onanuga added.

The Ogoni Nine, Ken Saro Wiwa, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel and John Kpuine, were also formally pardoned.

At the same time, the President awarded national honours to the Ogoni Four: Albert Badey, Edward Kobani, Samuel Orage, and Theophilus Orage.

“In exercising his constitutional power of mercy, President Tinubu granted clemency to 82 inmates and reduced the prison terms of 65 others. He gave a reprieve for seven inmates on the death row by commuting their sentences to life imprisonment,” the statement added.

Tinubu’s approvals were based on the recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy.

The 12-member committee is chaired by the Attorney General and Justice Minister, Lateef Fagbemi.

The other members are Akinlolu Olujinmi, Prof. Alkasum Abba, Prof. (Mrs.) Nike Ijaiya, Justice Augustine B. Utsaha, and the Secretary, Dr Onwusoro Maduka, a former Permanent Secretary.

The institutional representatives on the Committee are: the Permanent Secretary, Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs; representatives of the Nigeria Police Force, Nigerian Correctional Service, National Human Rights Commission, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, and Christian Association of Nigeria.

The committee’s final report was presented to the Council of State on Thursday in Abuja, as required by the constitution.

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 for pardon; 65 inmates for reduction of their terms of imprisonment, and seven inmates on death row for commutation to life imprisonment.

“Also, 15 ex-convicts were recommended for Presidential Pardon, 11 of them are deceased (including Ogoni 9). The Ogoni four 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,” the report read.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, inaugurated the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy on January 15, 2025, as a significant step towards promoting justice, rehabilitation, and human rights in Nigeria.