The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the death sentence imposed on Maryam Sanda for the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, dismissing the presidential pardon earlier granted to her by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Sanda, daughter-in-law of a former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, had been convicted in 2020 by an Abuja High Court for stabbing Bello to death during a domestic dispute at their home in Abuja in 2017.
She had spent more than six years and eight months in the Suleja Custodial Centre before receiving a controversial presidential reprieve that reduced her penalty to 12 years’ imprisonment.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), had defended her inclusion on the presidential pardon list, describing the clemency as an act of compassion anchored on her “good behaviour, new lifestyle, remorsefulness and the need to safeguard the well-being of her children.”
But in a landmark split verdict of 4–1, a five-man panel of the apex court set aside the pardon and reaffirmed the earlier judicial pronouncement sentencing her to death by hanging.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Moore Adumein held that the prosecution had established its case beyond reasonable doubt and that both the trial court and the Court of Appeal were right to convict and sentence Sanda.
The court criticised President Tinubu’s intervention, declaring that the executive lacked the constitutional power to issue a pardon in a matter still undergoing judicial review.
“The action of the President was premature and in conflict with the doctrine of separation of powers,” the Supreme Court ruled, insisting that only the courts could determine the finality of such a grave criminal verdict.
All issues raised by Sanda in her appeal were resolved against her, with the apex court dismissing the case as lacking in merit.
The judgment brings a dramatic end to an eight-year legal battle that has drawn nationwide attention and sparked debates on executive influence, gender-based violence, and the limits of presidential pardon.
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