The Ogoni Central Indigenous Authority (OCIA) has rejected President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s state pardon and national honour for late environmental activist Ken Saro Wiwa and eight of his compatriots on June 12, 2025.
Dr Goodluck Diigbo, President of OCIA, said in an online interview with a news platform on Sunday that the President’s gesture was misplaced, noting that the Ogoni-9 never committed any crime against the Nigerian state to warrant pardon, rather than being exonerated of a crime for which they were wrongfully accused.
Speaking about the concern that motivated his instant rejection letter on June 12, 2025, Diigbo stated that he believes President Tinubu is serious and wants to end that sad chapter of Nigeria’s history in order to placate the Ogoni people.
However, without much lobbying, Tinubu decided to exercise the power to pardon, which is primarily enshrined in the Constitution and is exercised by the President and State Governors, “but particularly in this instance, the president failed the scrutiny, despite his good intention”.
Diigbo said in a real sense, “Tinubu may run into trouble with the use of his legitimate power as outlined in Section 175 of the 1999 Constitution if detractors go to court to nullify the Award aspect and we will be left with pardon without exoneration.”
He stated that this authority authorises the President to grant pardons, reprieves, or respites, or reduce sentences for infractions created by an Act of the National Assembly, but it does not anticipate, implicitly or explicitly, the granting of national awards, even posthumous, to criminals.
“I surrender myself to exercise the scrutiny of a clear conscience and moral judgement and came to the conclusion that the exercise of the President’s pardon power in our case raises concerns of potential abuse, despite Tinubu’s good intention.
“This is because Ken Saro-Wiwa and my other eight brothers have not been exonerated. I feel the pardon and award can be challenged in a legitimate court of law in Nigeria, and Tinubu’s administration might easily lose as acting outside of the law or his powers as enshrined in Nigeria’s moribund 1999 Constitution.
“It will be too late for us to REJECT the PARDON and AWARD. For the Pardon and Award to become genuine, my brothers must be exonerated. And since the outdated 1999 Constitution has no such provision, it does not deny the President the power to construct an Exoneration Administrative Framework to provide for exoneration through a resolution adopted by the Parliament, expressing regret and profound apology for the Nigerian State Sanctioned Murder of the Ogoni and thousands of other unnamed heroes, who heard my voice and those of others, and then joined our just cause.”
Diigbo said that “Such an Exoneration Administrative Framework is a mechanism whereby provisions of the Constitution would find comfort. I’ve started to pursue such a mechanism to make the Pardon and Award legitimate. Yes, I’m in touch with members of the House of Representatives but can’t speak of the specifics in that regard.”
He claimed that he had informed and accepted the Ogoni General Assembly’s resolution that “our people for the time being reject the Pardon and Award extended to Ken Saro-Wiwa and our eight other brothers.”
“Our position is that Ken’s and my eight executive members were hanged to death, which was prejudged, without proper judicial process, and murdered. Our people will express genuine recognition of Tinubu’s good intention at the right time.”
The OCIA President regretted that previous President Goodluck Jonathan did not remember what Tinubu had begun to achieve; instead, “he promoted criminal judicial operatives – people like Auta who concocted the Kangaroo Tribunal Hanging to Death Order. “It was particularly upsetting, but I understand the pressure that bore heavily on former President Jonathan, especially from those who believe they have the right to the Ogoni country,” Diigbo asserted.
