Herbert Macaulay’s Family Rejects Tinubu’s Pardon for ‘Sandwiching Their Father Between Drug Barons and Murderers’

• The Federal Government says no inmate has been released under Tinubu’s pardon, as Herbert Macaulay’s family rejects the move for placing the late nationalist alongside drug barons and murderers.

The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), has clarified that no inmate has been released under the recent exercise of the presidential prerogative of mercy, countering widespread public speculation.

In a statement issued in Abuja, Fagbemi explained that the clemency process is still undergoing final administrative scrutiny to ensure all recommendations meet legal and procedural standards.
According to him, “the verification process is a standard protocol that demonstrates government’s commitment to transparency, due diligence, and the rule of law.”

Macaulay’s Family Rejects Group Pardon

Meanwhile, descendants of the late Herbert Heelas Macaulay, often referred to as the Father of Nigerian Nationalism, have expressed dissatisfaction over how the posthumous pardon granted to their forebear was handled.

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At a press conference in Lagos, the family—led by a former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George—condemned what they described as the “demeaning” inclusion of Macaulay’s name alongside convicted criminals in the general pardon list.

George said, “Herbert Macaulay fought oppression and gave Nigerians the courage to stand as free men. His name should not appear among those who broke the law but among those who built the nation.”

The family urged President Bola Tinubu to honour Macaulay separately and to immortalise him by naming a major national institution or monument after him.

Other family members present at the event included Erelu Adeola Macaulay, Lanre Oshodi, Mayokun Thomas, Kofoworola Macaulay, Adeyinka Macaulay, Ayo Ogunlana, and Turi Akerele.

George added, “Macaulay did not live to see independence, but he paved the way for it. As beneficiaries of his struggle, we must continue to build bridges, not walls — institutions, not empires.”