The Presidency on Saturday released details of the Presidential Pardon and Clemency approved by President Bola Tinubu, covering 175 inmates and former convicts, including high-profile Nigerians and historic figures.
A statement from the State House named some of the beneficiaries as Maryam Sanda, Ken Saro-Wiwa, the Ogoni Eight, Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa, and Major S.A. Akubo.
Also granted posthumous pardon are Sir Herbert Macaulay, wrongfully convicted by British colonial authorities in 1913 and the nine Ogoni activists executed in 1995, including Saro-Wiwa.
According to the statement, the exercise followed recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy chaired by Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.
The report was adopted at Thursday’s Council of State meeting Chaired by the President at the State House, Abuja.
In total, the committee recommended pardon for 17 persons (including 11 deceased), clemency for 82 inmates, and commutation of sentences for 65 others, including seven death-row inmates whose sentences were converted to life imprisonment.
Among the other high-profile beneficiaries are Hon. Farouk Lawan, Ayinla Saadu Alanamu, and Professor Magaji Garba.
The Presidency explained that many of those pardoned showed remorse, good conduct, or had attained old age and acquired vocational or educational qualifications, including through the National Open University of Nigeria.
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One of the most notable cases is that of Maryam Sanda, sentenced to death in 2020 for culpable homicide.
Her clemency was granted on the grounds of rehabilitation, good conduct, and a humanitarian plea tied to the welfare of her two young children.
Also benefiting from the exercise are 80 illegal miners, whose sentences were commuted following a rehabilitation and empowerment pledge facilitated by Senator Ikra Bilbis.
President Tinubu described the exercise as a reaffirmation of his administration’s commitment to justice sector reform and restorative justice, emphasizing that clemency is “a tool for rehabilitation, not retribution.”
The committee operates under Section 175 of the 1999 Constitution, which empowers the President to grant pardons, reprieves, and commutations on the advice of the Council of State.
The 175 beneficiaries are drawn from correctional centres across the country, with some having spent over three decades behind bars.
(Editor: Okechukwu Eze)
