President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved presidential pardon and clemency for 175 individuals, following recommendations endorsed by the National Council of State during its meeting on Thursday, October 9, 2025, in Abuja.
According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the clemency list includes posthumous pardons for late Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa and Nigerian nationalist Herbert Macaulay. Vatsa, a poet and former military officer executed for treason in 1986, was pardoned nearly four decades after his death. Macaulay, a pioneering nationalist and co-founder of the NCNC, was previously convicted by colonial authorities in 1913.
Also pardoned were former lawmaker Farouk Lawan and three others — Mrs. Anastasia Daniel Nwaobia, Barrister Hussaini Umar, and Ayinla Saadu Alanamu — who were found to have shown remorse and a willingness to reintegrate into society.
President Tinubu also granted clemency to:
- 82 inmates,
- Reduced sentences for 65,
- Commuted 7 death sentences to life imprisonment, and
- Granted posthumous pardons to 15 individuals, including the nine Ogoni activists executed in 1995: Ken Saro-Wiwa, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine.
In addition, four individuals were awarded posthumous national honours: Chief Albert Badey, Chief Edward Kobani, Chief Samuel Orage, and Theophilus Orage.
This exercise followed the recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM), chaired by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN). The committee, inaugurated in January 2025 by Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, reviewed 294 cases.
Selection criteria for clemency included age (60 years and above), terminal illness, youth (16 years and below), long-term good behavior in prison, and demonstrated remorse.
The initiative is part of the government’s broader efforts to promote justice, rehabilitation, and uphold human rights within the criminal justice system.
