In a sweeping exercise of presidential clemency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has granted posthumous pardons to Herbert Macaulay and Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa, alongside clemency for 82 inmates and changes to the sentences of others.

The National Council of State, meeting in Abuja, unanimously approved the pardons. Tinubu announced that the pardons follow recommendations from the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy.

Under the arrangement:

  • 82 inmates will receive full pardons.

  • 65 prisoners will have their prison terms reduced.

  • 7 inmates on death row will have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment.

The president also cleared the records of Herbert Macaulay, the nationalist and founding member of the NCNC, who had been convicted under colonial rule, and Vatsa, a military officer executed for treason in 1986. Among other living beneficiaries is former lawmaker Farouk Lawan.

The exercise marks one of the most expansive use of the prerogative of mercy since Nigeria’s return to democracy, raising hopes for reconciliation while renewing debate over justice, clemency, and reform.