The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) has ordered the Nigerian Army to immediately reinstate 70 soldiers who were convicted by courts-martial for mutiny in 2014 but were later granted an unconditional presidential pardon by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a landmark judgment delivered by Justice S.A. Yelwa, the court held that the presidential pardon granted under Section 175 of the 1999 Constitution effectively erased the legal consequences of the soldiers’ convictions, including their dismissal from military service.
The court also directed the Nigerian Army to pay the affected personnel all salaries, allowances and other emoluments accruing from July 18, 2022, the effective date of the presidential pardon until the date they are physically reinstated.
However, the court declined the soldiers’ request for payment of salaries covering the period between their dismissal in December 2014 and the date of the presidential pardon in July 2022. Justice Yelwa ruled that they were not entitled to wages for the years during which they neither rendered military service nor performed official duties while serving prison terms.
The judgment followed a suit filed by the 70 soldiers against the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Chief of Army Staff after military authorities allegedly failed to reinstate them despite the presidential pardon granted in 2022. The claimants were represented by Falana & Falana Chambers.
The soldiers were among military personnel convicted by courts-martial during the height of Nigeria’s counter-insurgency operations against Boko Haram in 2014. Although several of them were initially sentenced to death for mutiny-related offences, the sentences were later commuted to 10 years’ imprisonment before they received an unconditional presidential pardon from former President Buhari in July 2022.
In his ruling, Justice Yelwa rejected the Federal Government’s argument that the soldiers’ dismissals could remain valid despite the presidential pardon. The court held that the dismissals were direct consequences of the convictions and not separate administrative actions. Consequently, once the President exercised the constitutional prerogative of mercy, the legal basis for their dismissal ceased to exist.
The court further held that the Official Gazette publishing the presidential pardon constituted conclusive evidence that all 70 claimants were beneficiaries of the exercise of the President’s constitutional powers under Section 175 of the Constitution.
As of the time of filing this report, the Nigerian Army had not publicly responded to the judgment or indicated whether it would comply with the reinstatement order or file an appeal.
