Court Orders Army to Reinstate 70 Pardoned Soldiers, Pay Salaries From July 2022

The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), Lagos Division, has ordered the immediate reinstatement of 70 Nigerian Army personnel who were dismissed from service following their conviction by courts-martial, ruling that their subsequent unconditional presidential pardon extinguished the legal consequences of their convictions and dismissals.

The court, in a judgment delivered on July 20, 2026, also directed the Nigerian Army to pay the affected soldiers their salaries, allowances and other applicable emoluments from July 18, 2022, the date the presidential pardon took effect, until the date of their actual reinstatement.

Justice S.A. Yelwa delivered the judgment in Suit No. NICN/LA/54/2023, filed by the 70 soldiers against the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and the Chief of Army Staff (COAS).

The soldiers had approached the court after military authorities allegedly failed to act on their request to return to service following an unconditional pardon granted to them by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022.

The case centred on the legal effect of the presidential pardon and whether the pardon was sufficient to remove the consequences of the soldiers convictions, including their dismissal from the Nigerian Army.

The claimants, represented by Falana & Falana Chambers, asked the court to declare that the presidential pardon had nullified the legal consequences of their convictions and dismissals. They also sought an order compelling the Nigerian Army to reinstate them and pay their outstanding salaries and allowances dating back to December 17, 2014.

The soldiers were among Nigerian Army personnel convicted by various courts-martial in 2014 on offences including conspiracy and mutiny. They were initially sentenced to death, although the sentences were subsequently commuted to 10 years' imprisonment.

After serving their prison sentences, the soldiers became beneficiaries of an unconditional presidential pardon granted by former President Buhari under the constitutional prerogative of mercy.

The pardon was conveyed through the Instrument of Grant of Pardon, 2022, which was published in the Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette on July 29, 2022.

Following the pardon, the soldiers, through their legal representatives, wrote to the Chief of Army Staff on November 7, 2022, requesting their reinstatement into the Nigerian Army as well as payment of their outstanding salaries and allowances.

Although the Army Headquarters acknowledged receipt of the correspondence, the soldiers said no meaningful action was taken on their request, leading them to institute the legal proceedings.

Counsel for the claimants, Funmi Falana, SAN, leading Chukwuma Onwumene, argued that the presidential pardon had wiped away the legal consequences flowing from the soldiers' convictions.

The legal team maintained that the soldiers' dismissals were directly connected to their courts-martial convictions and that, with the convictions pardoned, the legal foundation upon which their dismissal from the Army rested had also been removed.

The claimants therefore urged the court to treat the pardon as restoring their legal status and entitling them to return to the service.

The Attorney-General of the Federation, represented by Omobolanle Aina, opposed the claim.

The Federal Government argued that although a presidential pardon could forgive an offence and restore certain civil rights, it did not erase the historical fact that a conviction had occurred. It also contended that the grant of a pardon did not, by itself, create an automatic entitlement to reinstatement in employment.

The Federal Government further challenged the claim for salary arrears, arguing that the soldiers should not be paid salaries for periods when they were not working or rendering services to the Nigerian Army.

The Chief of Army Staff, however, did not enter an appearance or file a defence in the proceedings.

In his judgment, Justice Yelwa held that the documentary evidence placed before the court, including the relevant Official Gazette, conclusively established that the 70 soldiers were beneficiaries of the presidential pardon granted on July 18, 2022.

The court found that the soldiers' dismissals were direct consequences of the courts-martial convictions rather than independent administrative decisions taken separately from those convictions.

Justice Yelwa held that once the President exercised the constitutional power of mercy in favour of the soldiers, the legal foundation for the dismissals ceased to exist.

The court further held that allowing the dismissals to remain in force despite the unconditional pardon would undermine the effect of the President's constitutionally recognised prerogative of mercy.

According to the judgment, the Army's failure to act on the soldiers request for reinstatement amounted to an administrative omission that was open to judicial intervention.

The court consequently ordered the immediate reinstatement of all 70 soldiers.

While the court ruled in favour of the soldiers on the issue of reinstatement, it rejected their demand for salary arrears covering the period from December 17, 2014, to July 17, 2022.

Justice Yelwa held that the claimants were not entitled to salaries for the period during which they were incarcerated and were not in active service.

The court also found that the Instrument of Grant of Pardon did not contain any provision for the retrospective payment of salaries for the period preceding the effective date of the pardon.

The soldiers, the court held, had also failed to establish a contractual basis for receiving salaries for the years during which they were out of active service.

Consequently, the court fixed July 18, 2022, the date on which the presidential pardon became effective as the starting point for the soldiers entitlement to salaries and other emoluments.

Justice Yelwa therefore directed the defendants to pay the 70 soldiers their salaries, allowances and other applicable emoluments from July 18, 2022, until the date of their actual reinstatement.

The court dismissed the claim for salaries and allowances covering the period between December 17, 2014, and July 17, 2022.

It also made no order as to costs.

The judgment could have wider implications for the interpretation of the President's constitutional prerogative of mercy, particularly in cases involving members of the Armed Forces who are convicted by courts-martial and subsequently granted presidential pardons.

At the heart of the ruling is the question of how far a presidential pardon extends when the punishment imposed includes dismissal from military service a matter that could influence future disputes involving pardoned military personnel and their employment rights.