Presidency Releases Details Of Presidential Pardon, Clemency

ABUJA – The Presidency has re­leased full list of the Presidential pardon and clemency approved by the National Council of State last week.

Special Adviser to the Presi­dent on Information and Strat­egy, Bayo Onanuga, released the full lists of beneficiaries on Saturday.

Recall that the National Coun­cil of State meeting hosted by President Bola Tinubu granted pardon and clemency to a total of 175 persons, some of them included late Herbert Macaulay, Mamman Vatsa, Farouk Lawan among others.

Onanuga said Illegal miners, white-collar convicts, remorse­ful drug offenders, foreigners, Major General Mamman Vatsa, Major Akubo, Professor Magaji Garba, capital offenders such as Maryam Sanda, Ken Saro Wiwa, and the other Ogoni Eight were among the 175 convicts and former convicts who received President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s mercy on Thursday.

He explained that the Presi­dent granted clemency to most of them based on the reports that the convicts had shown remorse and good conduct. He forgave some due to old age, the acquisi­tion of new vocational skills, or enrolment in the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).

President Tinubu also cor­rected the historic injustice committed by British colonial­ists against Sir Herbert Macau­lay, one of Nigeria’s foremost nationalists.

In all, the Presidential Adviso­ry Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, chaired by the Attor­ney-General and Justice Minis­ter, Prince Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi, recommended pardon for two inmates, 15 former con­victs, 11 of whom have died.

The committee recommend­ed clemency for 82 inmates and commutation of sentences for 65 inmates.

Seven inmates on death row also benefited from the Presiden­tial reprieve.

The committee recommend­ed that the President commute their death sentences to life im­prisonment.

Prince Fagbemi presented the committee’s report at the Coun­cil of State meeting, chaired by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

PARDONED

Those pardoned are Nweke Francis Chibueze, aged 44, serv­ing a life sentence at Kirikiri for cocaine; Dr Nwogu Peters, aged 67, Serving a 17-year jail term for fraud and was sentenced in 2013; Mrs Anastasia Daniel Nwaoba, aged 63, who has already served a sentence for fraud.

Others are Barr. Hussaini Alhaji Umar, aged 58, sentenced in 2023 to pay a fine of N150m in the ICPC case; Ayinla Saadu Alanamu, age 63, sentenced to seven years for bribery in 2019 and has served the sentence, and Hon. Farouk M. Lawan, aged 62. Sentenced to five years in 2021 for corrupt practices and has served the sentence.

POSTHUMOUS PARDON

Those granted post-humous pardon are Sir Herbert Macau­lay, who was banned from pub­lic office for misappropriation of funds, and sentenced in 1913 by the British colonialists, and Major-General Mamman Jiya Vatsa, age 46, Sentenced in 1986 for treason, related to an alleged coup plot.

THE OGONI NINE

Also granted post-humous pardon are The Ogoni Nine, in­cluding Ken Saro Wiwa, who was sentenced for murder; Saturday Dobee, sentenced for murder; Nordu Eawa, sentenced for mur­der; Daniel Gbooko, sentenced for murder; Paul Levera, sen­tenced for murder; Felix Nuate, sentenced for murder; Baribor Bera, sentenced for murder; Barinem Kiobel, sentenced for murder, and John Kpuine, also sentenced for murder.

VICTIMS OF OGONI NINE HON­OURED

The victims of the Ogoni killings that were honoured in­clude Chief Albert Badey, Chief Edward Kobaru, Chief Samuel Orage, and Chief Theophilus Orage.