….IBB, Abdulsalami in attendance
…Approves Amupitan As New INEC Chairman
…..Tinubu grants presidential pardon to 174 others
…backs presidential clemency for Herbert Macaulay, 174 inmates
President Bola Tinubu on Thursday, presided over the meeting of Council of State, with former Head of State Yakubu Gowon, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, absent.
The meeting took place at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, with former President Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalam Abubakar, as well as Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State joining virtually.
The meeting is expected to be attended by all surviving former Presidents and Heads of States, the Vice President, serving and retired former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
This is the second Council of State meeting to be hosted by President Tinubu, as the President had presided over a similar meeting in August, 2024.
Others are George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, serving Governors, the Chief of Staff to the President and other invited government officials.
The meeting is also being attended by Lateef Fagbemi, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
As of the time of filing in this report, former Chief Justice Muhammad Tanko, Mohammed Belgore and Walter Onnoghen, had arrived for the meeting.
Others are Governors of Kwara, Rivers , Enugu, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Borno, Ogun, Sokoto, Edo, Kaduna and Abia States.
The meeting is expected to discuss issues around the prevailing insecurity that has ravaged various parts of the country, as well as 2027 general election.
Council of State backs presidential clemency for 175 inmates
The National Council of State on Thursday endorsed the exercise of presidential prerogative of mercy by President Bola Tinubu, granting clemency to 175 inmates across the country.
The Presidency said the gesture is aimed at decongesting correctional facilities and promoting restorative justice.
The move, which came during the Council’s meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, reflects the administration’s commitment to tempering justice with mercy, while ensuring that deserving inmates are given a second chance to reintegrate into society.
Briefing State House correspondents after the meeting, Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State explained that the Council considered a report from the Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy, presented by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, which recommended various clemency measures.
According to him, out of the 175 beneficiaries, 82 inmates were granted presidential pardon, 65 had their sentences reduced, while seven death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment.
He, however, declined to provide the names of the beneficiaries.
The presidential prerogative of mercy, enshrined in Section 175 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), empowers the President to grant pardons, reprieves, or commute sentences.
It is typically exercised after careful consideration of the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy, which assesses factors such as age, ill health, good behaviour, or cases of miscarriage of justice.
Thursday’s endorsement by the Council of State, comprising former Heads of State, state governors, and other statutory members, is expected to pave the way for the formal release or re-sentencing of the affected inmates in the coming weeks.
The Council also took key decisions on national appointments, approving Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN) as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Dr. Aminu Isa as Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), following recommendations by President Tinubu.
Briefing journalists, Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State, who also chairs the Progressive Governors’ Forum, described Amupitan’s nomination as a constitutional responsibility diligently discharged by the President.
He said the appointment received unanimous endorsement, with speakers hailing the nominee as “a serious-minded scholar, a man of integrity, tested and trusted, who has never participated in partisan politics.”
The Council further ratified the appointment of Alhaji Tonga Beta Bularafa as Federal Commissioner representing Yobe State at the NPC.
