The National Industrial Court in Lagos has directed the immediate reinstatement of 70 Nigerian Army personnel who received an unconditional presidential pardon after earlier convictions by courts-martial.
Justice S. A. Yelwa delivered the judgment on July 20, 2026, in suit NICN/LA/54/2023. The court held that the pardon granted under section 175 of the 1999 Constitution removed the convictions, sentences and dismissals that followed the military proceedings.
The action was brought by Corporal Andrew Ogolekwu and 69 others against the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Chief of Army Staff. The claimants argued that the Army’s failure to restore them to service was inconsistent with the legal effect of the pardon.
The court ordered their reinstatement to take effect from July 18, 2022, the date established by the official pardon instrument. It also directed the payment of salaries, allowances and other entitlements accruing from that date until their physical return to service.
Justice Yelwa, however, refused the claim for remuneration covering the period between their 2014 dismissal and July 17, 2022. The court found that the pardon did not create a retrospective entitlement to salaries for the years preceding its commencement.
The judgment treated the dismissals as consequences of the convictions rather than separate administrative sanctions. On that basis, the court concluded that they could not remain in force after an absolute and unconditional exercise of presidential clemency had removed their legal foundation.
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