The presidency has provided more details on the presidential pardon and clemency granted to dozens of people by President Bola Tinubu.

Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said in a Saturday statement that a total of 175 convicts and former convicts “received President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s mercy on Thursday.”

The list includes “illegal miners, white-collar convicts, remorseful drug offenders, foreigners…,” Mr Onanuga wrote.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that among those pardoned was a former federal lawmaker from Kano State, Farouk Lawan, who was jailed for receiving bribes but had served his jail term.

One of those granted clemency is Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death in 2020 for killing her husband.

“Maryam Sanda, aged 37, was sentenced to death in 2020 for culpable homicide and had spent six years, eight months at Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre. Her family pleaded for her release, arguing that it was in the best interest of her two children. The plea was also anchored on her good conduct in jail, her remorse, and her embracement of a new lifestyle, demonstrating her commitment to being a model prisoner,” Mr Onanuga wrote.

“In all, the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, chaired by the Attorney-General and Justice Minister, Prince Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi, recommended pardon for two inmates, 15 former convicts, 11 of whom have died. The committee recommended clemency for 82 inmates and commutation of sentences for 65 inmates. Seven inmates on death row also benefited from the Presidential reprieve. The committee recommended that the President should commute their death sentences to life imprisonment.”

Read Mr Onanuga’s full statement below.

Details of The Presidential Pardon and Clemency

Illegal miners, white-collar convicts, remorseful drug offenders, foreigners, Major General Mamman Vatsa, Major Akubo, Professor Magaji Garba, capital offenders such as Maryam Sanda, Ken Saro Wiwa, and the other Ogoni Eight were among the 175 convicts and former convicts who received President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s mercy on Thursday.

President Tinubu granted clemency to most of them based on the reports that the convicts had shown remorse and good conduct. He forgave some due to old age, the acquisition of new vocational skills, or enrolment in the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). President Tinubu also corrected the historic injustice committed by British colonialists against Sir Herbert Macaulay, one of Nigeria’s foremost nationalists.

In all, the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, chaired by the Attorney-General and Justice Minister, Prince Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi, recommended pardon for two inmates, 15 former convicts, 11 of whom have died. The committee recommended clemency for 82 inmates and commutation of sentences for 65 inmates. Seven inmates on death row also benefited from the Presidential reprieve. The committee recommended that the President should commute their death sentences to life imprisonment.

Prince Fagbemi presented the committee’s report at the Council of State meeting, chaired by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

FULL LIST OF BENEFICIARIES OF PRESIDENT TINUBU’S MERCY

PARDONED

1. Nweke Francis Chibueze, aged 44, serving a life sentence at Kirikiri for cocaine.

2. Dr Nwogu Peters, aged 67; Serving a 17-year jail term for fraud. Sentenced in 2013.

3. Mrs Anastasia Daniel Nwaoba, aged 63. Already served a sentence for fraud

4. Barr. Hussaini Alhaji Umar, aged 58. Sentenced in 2023 to pay a fine of N150M in the ICPC case

5. Ayinla Saadu Alanamu, age 63, was sentenced to seven years for bribery in 2019 and has served the sentence.

6. Hon. Farouk M. Lawan, aged 62.