Court Orders Army to Reinstate 70 Pardoned Soldiers, Pay Salaries From 2022
Nigeria’s National Industrial Court has ordered the Nigerian Army to reinstate 70 soldiers who were dismissed after being convicted by military courts, ruling that their unconditional presidential pardon had erased the legal consequences of their convictions and dismissals.
The court also ordered the government to pay the soldiers’ salaries, emoluments and allowances from July 18, 2022, when the pardon took effect, until the date they are physically reinstated.
The soldiers were among personnel convicted by courts-martial in 2014. According to the court record, they were sentenced to death, although the sentences were later commuted to 10 years’ imprisonment.
The soldiers subsequently served their prison terms and were granted a full and unconditional presidential pardon under Section 175 of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The court said the official government gazette established that the pardon took effect on July 18, 2022. It held that the pardon wiped out the soldiers’ convictions, sentences and the legal consequences arising from their dismissals from the Army.
The ruling followed an earlier formal demand by the soldiers for reinstatement. Their lawyers wrote to the Chief of Army Staff in November 2022, arguing that the presidential pardon entitled their clients to return to military service and receive their outstanding pay. The court found that the demand was received but not acted upon.
However, the court rejected a major part of the soldiers’ financial claim.
The soldiers had sought salaries and allowances dating back to December 17, 2014, when they were dismissed. The court ruled that they were not entitled to payment for the period between their dismissal and the presidential pardon because they had not rendered military service during that period.
The judgment provides a significant judicial interpretation of the effect of an unconditional presidential pardon on military personnel who have been convicted and dismissed from service.
The court found that the pardon did more than remove the criminal consequences of the convictions: in this case, it also eliminated the legal basis for the soldiers’ dismissal. However, the judgment made clear that the pardon did not itself automatically reinstate the soldiers; the Army remained responsible for carrying out the administrative act of reinstatement.
The ruling now places the Nigerian Army under an obligation to restore the 70 soldiers to service and settle their salaries and applicable allowances from July 18, 2022, until their physical reinstatement.
