Court Orders Reinstatement, Salary Payment for 70 Pardoned Soldiers
The National Industrial Court (NIC) in Lagos has ordered the Nigerian Army to reinstate 70 soldiers who were convicted by courts-martial in 2014 but later received an unconditional presidential pardon from the late former President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a judgment delivered on July 20, Justice Sanda Yelwa held that the presidential pardon granted under Section 175 of the 1999 Constitution effectively nullified the soldiers’ convictions, sentences and dismissals from service, thereby restoring their legal status and entitling them to reinstatement.
The judgment was disclosed in a statement issued on Monday by Tayo Soyemi of Falana & Falana Chambers, legal representatives of the claimants.
The suit, marked NICN/LA/54/2023, was instituted against the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) after the claimants alleged that military authorities failed to act on their request for reinstatement following the presidential pardon.
The 70 soldiers had sought declarations that the pardon invalidated their convictions and dismissals, an order directing their reinstatement, and payment of outstanding salaries and allowances from December 17, 2014.
The soldiers were convicted by various courts-martial in 2014 on charges bordering on conspiracy and mutiny. Although initially sentenced to death, their sentences were subsequently commuted to 10 years’ imprisonment.
Following the completion of their prison terms, former President Buhari granted them an unconditional presidential pardon through the Instrument of Grant of Pardon, 2022, published in the Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette dated July 29, 2022.
According to the statement, Falana & Falana Chambers wrote to the Chief of Army Staff on November 7, 2022, requesting the soldiers’ reinstatement and payment of their entitlements. Although the letter was acknowledged, the Army reportedly did not respond.
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Lead counsel for the claimants, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Funmi Falana, argued that the presidential pardon extinguished every legal consequence of the convictions, including the soldiers’ dismissal from service.
The Federal Government, represented by Omobolanle Aina, opposed the suit, maintaining that while a presidential pardon forgives an offence and restores civil rights, it does not erase the historical fact of a conviction or automatically confer a right to reinstatement.
The statement further noted that the Chief of Army Staff neither entered an appearance nor filed a defence in the matter.
In his ruling, Justice Yelwa held that the official gazette constituted conclusive evidence that all 70 claimants benefited from the presidential pardon. He observed that the Nigerian Army neither challenged the evidence nor offered any explanation for its failure to act on the soldiers’ request.
The judge ruled that the claimants’ dismissals were direct consequences of their convictions and could not stand once the presidential pardon had removed the legal basis for those convictions.
He further held that although reinstatement would require administrative action by the Nigerian Army, the claimants had acquired an enforceable legal right to return to service because the constitutional impediment to their continued employment had been removed.
However, the court declined to grant the claim for salary arrears covering the period between December 17, 2014, and July 17, 2022, ruling that the soldiers were not entitled to salaries while they were serving prison sentences and were not performing official duties. The court also noted that the presidential pardon did not provide for retrospective payment of salaries.
Justice Yelwa consequently ordered the immediate reinstatement of the 70 soldiers with effect from July 18, 2022, and directed the defendants to pay all salaries, allowances and other emoluments accruing from that date until their actual reinstatement.
By PRNigeria
