President Bola Tinubu has approved the exercise of the presidential prerogative of mercy for 175 persons across various categories, following the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy.

The decision was ratified on Thursday at the Council of State meeting held at the State House, Abuja, and chaired by the President.

According to sources at the meeting, among the prominent beneficiaries are one of Nigeria’s foremost nationalists, Herbert Macaulay, and former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory under the Babangida regime, Major-General Mamman Vatsa (retd). Members of the Ogoni Nine and Ogoni Four are also said to be on the list.

“The two major names that stood out on that list are Herbert Macaulay and Mamman Vatsa,” a source at the meeting confirmed to our correspondent.

Macaulay, widely regarded as the father of Nigerian nationalism, was twice convicted by colonial authorities in Lagos. In 1913, he was imprisoned for allegedly misappropriating funds from an estate he administered, a case many historians have described as politically motivated. In 1928, he was convicted of sedition following the publication of incendiary articles in the Lagos Daily News during the Eleko agitation and was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment with hard labour.

Vatsa, a poet, writer, and former member of the Supreme Military Council, was executed by firing squad on March 5, 1986, after a secret military tribunal convicted him of treason for an alleged coup plot against then Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida—his childhood friend. His execution has remained one of Nigeria’s most controversial, with longstanding calls for a posthumous pardon.

Briefing State House correspondents after the meeting, Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State disclosed that out of the 175 beneficiaries, 82 inmates were granted full pardon, 65 had their sentences reduced, while seven death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment.

“The decision underscores President Tinubu’s commitment to justice reform and a more humane correctional system,” Governor Sani said.

The Council of State meeting also approved key appointments, including Dr. Aminu Yusuf from Niger State as Chairman of the National Population Commission and Tonge Bularafa as the Federal Commissioner representing Yobe State in the Commission. Both appointments received unanimous endorsement from Council members.