The Association of Ogoni Business Owners in the United States has rejected President Bola Tinubu’s posthumous presidential pardon granted to Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Eight, calling it an inadequate and insensitive gesture that falls short of justice.
In a statement issued in Benin, Edo State, on Tuesday, the association’s president, Chief Anthony Waadah, criticized the move, describing it as a betrayal of the memories and struggles of the Ogoni martyrs.
President Tinubu, during his Democracy Day address to the National Assembly last Thursday, had announced a full presidential pardon for the late environmental activist and eight others executed under General Sani Abacha’s regime. He hailed them as national heroes while exercising his constitutional powers under the prerogative of mercy.
However, Waadah, who also serves as Executive Director of Legbo Group of Companies in the U.S., said the decision fails to address the long-standing injustice and human rights violations that led to the executions. He insisted that nothing short of a formal exoneration would be acceptable.
“I am compelled to express my profound disappointment and dismay at the decision to pardon Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Eight. This is a gross injustice and a travesty of their struggle,” Waadah stated.
He argued that issuing a pardon implies guilt and undermines the legacy of Saro-Wiwa and his fellow activists, who were wrongly executed for peacefully demanding environmental justice and resource control in Ogoniland.
“The struggle of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Eight was not criminal. It was a noble pursuit of justice. They were brutally murdered by the military dictatorship for standing up for their people,” he said.
Waadah stressed that the pardon without exoneration disrespects the memory of the victims and downplays the flawed judicial process that led to their deaths.
“The government’s action is a mockery of justice and a whitewash of state-sponsored executions,” he added, noting that the trial lacked fair hearing and due process—facts that have been widely acknowledged by the international community.
He urged the federal government to review the case and issue an official exoneration, which he said would mark a meaningful step toward healing and justice for the Ogoni people and the families of the victims.
“The military regime of General Abacha served as accuser, judge, and executioner. To this day, that injustice remains unaddressed. Only exoneration—not pardon—can begin to correct the wrong,” Waadah concluded.