The family of the late General Mamman Jiya Vatsa has commended President Bola Tinubu for granting a posthumous state pardon to the former FCT minister.

General Vatsa was executed in 1986 over an alleged coup plot against General Ibrahim Babangida’s regime.

Recall the late Vatsa was executed alongside nine other military officers in 1986 after a Military Tribunal found them guilty.

The family in a statement issued by its spokesman, Mr. Jonathan Vatsa, described the news of the pardon as the greatest moment of joy since Vatsa’s execution 39 years ago.

He thanked Tinubu for wiping away their tears and consoling the family.

Jonathan Vatsa stated that the late General was innocent of the purported coup plot, and the family had consistently appealed to every successive administration since then to grant their son a state pardon to enable the family run a foundation in his honour.

The family maintained that the late General was innocent and a victim of a frame-up.

“A highly respected Military General, late Domkat Bali once said in an interview that the evidence against General Vatsa was weak and that he doesn’t know whether he was supposed to have been killed.

“That is why the family still maintained that the late Vatsa was innocent of the coup. But we still thank President Tinubu for his magnanimity in granting him the state pardon.

” Today is the happiest moment in the life of the family after 39 years of sorrow and sadness following the killing of our late father, brother and uncle.

“Justice can never be denied but can only be delayed, the family is convinced that the late Vatsa must be a Happy person today in his grave by this singular act of compassionate by president Tinubu,” the statement said.

However, the statement expressed sadness that the state pardon came when some family members were not alive to witness it.

Late Gen Vatsa’s family thanks Tinubu for posthumous state pardon