The Council of State on Thursday, October 9, 2025, approved the exercise of the presidential prerogative of mercy for 175 persons across various categories, following President Bola Tinubu’s recommendations.
According to Punch, the approval came after the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), presented the report of the Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy at the Council’s meeting held at the State House, Abuja.
Among those granted posthumous pardons are two historic figures, Nigeria’s nationalist leader, Herbert Macaulay, and former FCT Minister under the Babangida regime, Maj-Gen. Mamman Vatsa (retd). Members of the Ogoni Nine and Ogoni Four also benefited from the exercise.
A source at the meeting disclosed that “Macaulay and Vatsa are among the two major ones on that list.”
Macaulay, revered as the father of Nigerian nationalism, was twice convicted by the colonial authorities, first in 1913 for alleged misappropriation of estate funds and later in 1928 for sedition during the Eleko agitation.
Vatsa, a poet and member of the Supreme Military Council, was executed by firing squad on March 5, 1986, after a secret military tribunal convicted him of treason in an alleged coup against then military ruler, Ibrahim Babangida, a case that has remained one of Nigeria’s most controversial.
Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State, while briefing State House correspondents, said 82 inmates received full pardons, 65 had their sentences reduced, and seven death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment, describing the move as “a reflection of the President’s commitment to justice and correctional reform.”
The Council, chaired by President Tinubu, also ratified key appointments, Dr. Aminu Yusuf as Chairman of the National Population Commission and Tonge Bularafa as Federal Commissioner representing Yobe State.
