A civil society group, the Centre for Anti-Cor­ruption and Open Leadership (CACOL), has called on President Bola Tinubu to rescind the full state pardon granted to the late Ogoni nine, including renowned environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa, describing it as “inaccurate and morally unjust.”

In a statement on Monday by the CACOL’s director of administration and programmes, Tola Oresanwo, the group said Mr Tinubu should replace the pardon with full exoneration.

It argued that the Ogoni nine committed no crime but only suffered what it called a “state murder”, noting that the judgment of the tribunal that tried them ought to be quashed.

“We call on President Tinubu and the Nigerian government to immediately rescind this inappropriate gesture and replace it with a full exoneration. Nigeria must rise above symbolic politics and take concrete steps to deliver restorative justice.

“After all, their only ‘offence ‘was standing up against environmental degradation, corporate exploitation, and systemic repression in the Niger Delta. They were peaceful advocates for justice and the environment, and their convictions and executions were the result of a sham trial universally condemned by the international community as a gross miscarriage of justice.

“A pardon implies guilt and absolution from wrongdoing. But in this case, there is nothing to forgive. The right step is to exonerate the Ogoni Nine, publicly acknowledge their innocence, apologise to their families and communities, and hold accountable those who orchestrated their judicial murder. Anything short of this continues the injustice,” the group said.

Last Thursday, Mr Tinubu, while addressing a joint session of the National Assembly to commemorate the June 12 Democracy Day, granted a full presidential posthumous pardon to the late Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni men, describing them as national heroes.