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Presidency Releases Names Of Some People Tinubu Granted National Pardon

Published

8 months ago

October 11, 2025

President Bola Tinubu has approved the presidential pardon of Nigerian nationalist, Herbert Macaulay, late Major-General, Mamman Vatsa, and former lawmaker, Farouk Lawan, alongside 14 others, following the endorsement of the National Council of State.

It was reports that the decision was announced in Abuja on Thursday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who said the move was aimed at decongesting prisons and advancing restorative justice.

Macaulay, widely regarded as the father of Nigerian nationalism, was posthumously pardoned decades after his 1913 conviction by colonial authorities, which barred him from public office. He died in 1946, but the stain of the sentence had remained on record.

Similarly, Vatsa, a poet and member of the Supreme Military Council executed in 1986 under General Ibrahim Babangida for alleged coup plotting, was pardoned nearly four decades after his controversial death.

The President also pardoned Farouk Lawan, a former House of Representatives member jailed for bribery, as well as Anastasia Daniel Nwaobia, Hussaini Umar, and Ayinla Saadu Alanamu, who were described as having shown “sufficient remorse” and readiness to reintegrate into society.

In addition, Nweke Francis Chibueze, serving a life term for cocaine trafficking, and Nwogu Peters, who had spent 12 years of a 17-year fraud sentence, were freed under the clemency.

Overall, the Council approved presidential mercy for 82 inmates, reduced the sentences of 65 others, and commuted seven death sentences to life imprisonment.

Ogoni Nine And Ogoni Four Honoured

In a symbolic gesture, Tinubu granted formal pardons to the Ogoni Nine, led by environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, who were executed in 1995 under General Sani Abacha’s regime.

Posthumous national honours were also awarded to the Ogoni Four, Albert Badey, Edward Kobani, Samuel Orage, and Theophilus Orage, recognised for their activism in the Niger Delta struggle.

The clemency followed the report of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM), chaired by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).

Other members included Akinlolu Olujinmi, Alkasum Abba, Nike Sidikat Ijaiya, Augustine Utsaha, and Onwusoro Maduka (secretary), alongside representatives of the police, correctional service, National Human Rights Commission, NSCIA, and CAN.

The committee, inaugurated by SGF George Akume in January 2025, reviewed 294 applications and interviewed 175 inmates. Its recommendations were guided by criteria such as old age, terminal illness, long sentences, good conduct, and rehabilitation.

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News

Ndigbo will never move on from £20 compensation injustice — Aloy Ejimakor

Published

8 hours ago

June 13, 2026

Oluwagbenga Olaoye

Lawyer to Nnamdi Kanu, convicted leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, Aloy Ejimakor, has said Ndigbo will “never move on” from the injustices suffered after the Nigerian Civil War, particularly the confiscation of properties and the £20 compensation policy.

Ejimakor made the statement in a post on X on Saturday, where he argued that many people wrongly believe the Igbo have forgotten the humiliation and injustice experienced after the war.

“It seems to me that some people believe that Ndigbo have moved on from the humiliation & injustice of confiscating their properties & handing them a mere £20 at the end of the Civil War. Well, hear this: Ndigbo will NEVER move on until these injustices (plus more) are redressed,” he wrote.

The lawyer did not specify what additional grievances he was referring to, but his comments come amid renewed debates over historical injustices, reconciliation, and the treatment of the South-East region since the end of the Civil War in 1970.

It was reports that after the war, many Igbo people who had bank deposits before the conflict were reportedly given a flat sum of £20 regardless of the amount previously held in their accounts, a policy that has remained a subject of controversy for decades.

Ejimakor is one of the lead lawyers representing Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB, who was recently convicted on terrorism-related charges brought by the Federal Government.

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VIDEO: Release Nnamdi Kanu or arrest Sheikh Gumi – Primate Ayodele to Nigeria Govt

Published

8 hours ago

June 13, 2026

Oluwagbenga Olaoye

Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has called on the Federal Government to release detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.

Speaking to his congregation in a video sighted by DAILY POST, Primate Ayodele said if the Nigerian Government continues to keep Nnamdi Kanu, it should also arrest Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi.

He said, “The Nigerian government should release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Since you keep Kanu in prison, why can’t you keep Sheikh Gumi in prison too?

“You keep Nnamdi Kanu but Gumi is free. Then, how do you want to now manage the government.

“If Nnamdi Kanu is there, then go and take Gumi. Then Nigerians will believe that the government is serious. Protest will seize this Tinubu government,” he warned.

SEE THE VIDEO

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UN Secretary-General appoints Nigeria’s Eziakonwa as Special Adviser on Africa

Published

8 hours ago

June 13, 2026

Oluwagbenga Olaoye

United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres on Friday announced the appointment of Ahunna Eziakonwa of Nigeria as Special Adviser on Africa.

She succeeds Cristina Duarte of the Republic of Cabo Verde, to whom the Secretary General is grateful for her commitment and dedicated service to the Organisation.

Eziakonwa brings nearly three decades of United Nations (UN) leadership to her new role.

In her current role as UN Assistant Secretary General, Assistant Administrator and Director, Regional Bureau for Africa, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), she oversees the organisation’s support to 46 African countries in pursuing Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

Since 2018, she has helped shape UNDP’s strategic approach to economic and political development across the continent.

Eziakonwa’s experience spans the full breadth of UN work in Africa.

She has served as UN Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in three countries – Ethiopia, Uganda and Lesotho – where she coordinated humanitarian action, development strategy and political engagement.

As Chief of the Africa Section at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in New York, she managed humanitarian operations across 15 African countries and held senior posts in Liberia and Sierra Leone during critical periods in those nations.

At UN Headquarters, she contributed to peacekeeping and political analysis and strategic communications pertaining to UN engagement in Africa, working with the UN Departments of Peacekeeping Operations, Political Affairs and Public Information.

Prior to joining the UN, she held positions in several African civil society organisations.

Eziakonwa holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs with a focus on African economic and political development from Columbia University, New York, USA, and a Bachelor of Arts in Pedagogy, English and Literary Studies from the University of Benin, Nigeria.

In addition to her native Igbo and English, she speaks fluent Yoruba and has a working knowledge of French.

NAN

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