Tinubu Pardons Cap-Banking Corrupt Politician, Farouk Lawan
President Bola Tinubu has granted a state pardon to a former member of the House of Representatives, Farouk Lawan, who was convicted for collecting a $500,000 bribe during the infamous 2012 fuel subsidy probe.
Lawan was among four ex-convicts pardoned by the President following the approval of the National Council of State, which met in Abuja on Thursday.
Others include Mrs. Anastasia Daniel Nwaobia, Barrister Hussaini Umar, and Ayinla Saadu Alanamu.
The President also approved posthumous pardons for nationalist Herbert Macaulay and Major-General Mamman Vatsa, the poet-soldier executed in 1986 for an alleged coup plot under the Babangida regime.
He also formally pardoned the Ogoni Nine, including environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, who were executed in 1995, and conferred national honours on four late Ogoni leaders.
Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said Tinubu acted on recommendations from the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, chaired by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).
The committee reviewed 294 applications, recommending 82 inmates for clemency, seven death-row prisoners for commutation to life, and several others for sentence reduction.
Tinubu’s exercise of mercy also granted clemency to 82 inmates nationwide and reduced the prison terms of 65 others.
The pardons, the committee noted, were based on considerations such as old age, terminal illness, good conduct, and remorse.
Critics, however, are expected to question the inclusion of Farouk Lawan, whose conviction symbolised Nigeria’s fight against political corruption.
The Presidency defended the move, saying the pardons were meant to promote justice, rehabilitation, and national reconciliation rather than to condone wrongdoing.
Sodiq Yusuf is a trained media practitioner and journalist with considerable years of experience in print, broadcast, and digital journalism. His interests cover a wide range of causes in politics, governance, sports, community development, and good governance.
