The Supreme Court of Nigeria has nullified the pardon previously granted by President Bola Tinubu to Abuja-based housewife, Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death by hanging in 2020 for the fatal stabbing of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, during a domestic argument.
President Tinubu had previously exercised his prerogative, reducing Sanda’s original death sentence to 12 years of imprisonment on compassionate grounds.
However, in a split decision of four-to-one delivered on Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the original death sentence handed down by the Abuja Court of Appeal, which had itself affirmed the decision of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court.
The Apex Court dismissed the appeal filed by Sanda, ruling that it was “without merit” and resolved all issues against her.
Justice Moore Adumein, who delivered the lead judgment, held that the prosecution successfully proved the case of culpable homicide beyond a reasonable doubt, stating that the Court of Appeal was correct in affirming the trial court’s judgment.
Crucially, Justice Adumein ruled that it was “wrong for the Executive to seek to exercise its power of pardon over a case of culpable homicide, in respect of which an appeal was pending.”
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