President Bola Tinubu has approved a presidential pardon for 175 persons, including Nigeria’s nationalist icon Herbert Macaulay and former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Maj.-Gen. Mamman Vatsa (retd.).
The decision was announced at the Council of State meeting held on Thursday at the State House, Abuja, following a presentation by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN). The recommendation was based on the report of the Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy.
Although the full list of beneficiaries has yet to be released, reliable sources confirmed to The PUNCH that pardons were also granted to members of the Ogoni Nine and Ogoni Four.
“Herbert Macaulay and Vatsa are the two major ones on that list,” a source at the meeting said.
Macaulay, widely regarded as the “father of Nigerian nationalism,” was twice convicted by the colonial government in Lagos. In 1913, he was sentenced for alleged misappropriation of estate funds, a charge many historians still contest. In 1928, he was convicted of sedition after his newspaper, Lagos Daily News, published critical reports during the Eleko of Lagos agitation.
Maj.-Gen. Vatsa, a poet and former member of the Supreme Military Council, was executed on March 5, 1986, following a secret military tribunal that found him guilty of treason for an alleged coup plot against then military ruler Ibrahim Babangida, his longtime friend. His execution has remained one of the most controversial in Nigeria’s military history.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani said:
“Eighty-two of the inmates were granted full pardon, 65 had their sentences reduced, while seven death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment. The decision underscores the President’s commitment to justice and correctional reform.”
The Council also ratified key appointments, including Dr. Aminu Yusuf from Niger State as Chairman of the National Population Commission, and Tonge Bularafa as Federal Commissioner representing Yobe State. Both appointments were unanimously approved.
