President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has granted presidential pardon and clemency to 175 convicts and former convicts, including prominent figures such as the late Major General Mamman Vatsa, Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Eight, Maryam Sanda, and Professor Magaji Garba.
The announcement was made on Thursday following the presentation of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy report, chaired by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), during the Council of State meeting presided over by President Tinubu at the State House, Abuja.
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According to the statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, the clemency list includes those pardoned, those whose sentences were commuted or reduced, and inmates on death row whose sentences were changed to life imprisonment.
President Tinubu extended clemency to convicts who had demonstrated remorse, good conduct, or acquired vocational and educational qualifications such as enrolment in the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). Others were forgiven on grounds of old age or ill health.
The President also approved a posthumous pardon for Sir Herbert Macaulay, correcting what he described as a historic injustice by British colonial authorities in 1913.
Among those pardoned were former lawmakers Farouk Lawan and Ayinla Saadu Alanamu, as well as several convicted illegal miners and drug offenders. A total of 82 inmates received clemency, 65 had their sentences commuted, and seven inmates on death row had their sentences reduced to life imprisonment.
Prominent names on the list include:
- Maryam Sanda, convicted of culpable homicide in 2020, whose family pleaded for her release in the interest of her children.
- Professor Magaji Garba, a former university vice-chancellor jailed for obtaining money by false pretence.
- Major General Mamman Vatsa, executed in 1986 for alleged coup involvement.
- Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Eight, executed in 1995 during the military regime of General Sani Abacha.
The statement added that Senator Ikra Aliyu Bilbis signed an undertaking to oversee the rehabilitation and empowerment of all illegal miners granted clemency.
The move, the presidency said, reflects President Tinubu’s “commitment to justice reform, national healing, and a humane correctional system” that balances accountability with compassion.
