TINUBU PARDONS CONVICTED COCAINE PUSHER, NWEKE FRANCIS CHIBUEZE, FUEL SUBSIDY FRAUDSTER FARUK LAWAN, LATE VATSA, HERBERT MACAULAY, OTHERS

 

 

Abiodun Sanusi and Ambali Abdulkabeer •

President Bola Tinubu has granted presidential pardons to former House of Representatives member Farouk Lawan, convicted of a fuel subsidy scam, and Nweke Francis Chibueze, serving a life sentence for cocaine trafficking.

 

Mr Tinubu also granted posthumous pardons to Nigerian nationalist Herbert Macaulay and Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa, a former army general executed for treason in 1986, alongside several other convicts and deceased persons.

 

The pardons were among the recommendations approved by the National Council of State, which met at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Thursday, according to a statement by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga.

 

“President Tinubu also pardoned four former convicts, including former House of Representatives member Farouk Lawan, Mrs Anastasia Daniel Nwaobia, Barrister Hussaini Umar, and Ayinla Saadu Alanamu,” the statement said.

 

It added, “They were pardoned to enable them to integrate into society, having demonstrated sufficient remorse. Nweke Francis Chibueze, serving a life sentence for cocaine, was pardoned, along with Dr Nwogu Peters, who had served 12 out of his 17-year sentence for fraud.”

 

Mr Tinubu also extended clemency to 82 inmates, reduced the sentences of 65 others, and commuted seven death sentences to life imprisonment, exercising his constitutional prerogative of mercy based on the report of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM).

 

In a symbolic move towards reconciliation, the Ogoni Nine—Ken Saro-Wiwa, Baribor Bera, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine—were granted posthumous pardons nearly three decades after their controversial execution by the military regime of General Sani Abacha in 1995.

 

The Ogoni Four—Albert Badey, Edward Kobani, Samuel Orage, and Theophilus Orage—were posthumously awarded national honours by the Tinubu administration.

 

The 12-member PACPM is chaired by Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) and comprises legal experts, academics, and representatives from key national institutions, including the Nigerian Correctional Service, National Human Rights Commission, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), and Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA).

 

The PACPM, inaugurated by Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume in January 2025, reviewed 294 applications—including 175 interviews with inmates across Nigerian prisons.

 

According to the statement by the presidential aide, the committee acted on criteria, including old age (60 years and above); ill health likely to terminate in death; young persons (16 years and below); long-term convicts who have served prison terms of 10 years or more with a good record; and convicts serving three years or more.

 

Other criteria included “those who have been in custodial centers and learnt sustainable vocational trades capable of keeping them away from crime; those who are adjudged remorseful; those whom correctional officers recommended for exemplary behaviour and Nigerian prisoners deported from other countries.”

 

Mr Onanuga described the decision as part of Mr Tinubu’s broader justice and human rights reform agenda, aimed at promoting “rehabilitation, reintegration, and national healing.”

 

“On the whole, a total of 175 beneficiaries were recommended under the 2025 presidential clemency exercise,” Mr Onanuga said.