President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has granted posthumous pardons to environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, poet and soldier Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa, and nationalist Herbert Macaulay, following the approval of the National Council of State meeting held Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Tinubu also awarded posthumous national honours to the Ogoni Four — Chief Albert Badey, Chief Edward Kobani, Chief Samuel Orage, and Theophilus Orage — and granted clemency to 82 inmates, while commuting the death sentences of seven others to life imprisonment.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President (Information & Strategy) said others pardoned include former lawmaker Farouk Lawan, Mrs Anastasia Daniel Nwaobia, Barrister Hussaini Umar, and Ayinla Saadu Alanamu, who were said to have shown genuine remorse and rehabilitation.
The decision followed recommendations from the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM), chaired by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN). The committee reviewed 294 applications and based its advice on factors such as old age, illness, good conduct, and rehabilitation.
The clemency exercise, officials said, reflects President Tinubu’s commitment to justice, reconciliation, and national healing.
