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Supreme Court Nullifies Tinubu’s Clemency, Reaffirms Death Sentence For Ex-PDP Chairman’s Daughter-In-Law, Maryam Sanda
Sanda was convicted by an Abuja High Court on January 27, 2020, after the court found her guilty of stabbing Bello to death during a domestic dispute.
Abuja, Nigeria– The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the death sentence handed to Maryam Sanda, the daughter-in-law of a former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for the 2017 killing of her husband, Bilyamin Bello.
Sanda was convicted by an Abuja High Court on January 27, 2020, after the court found her guilty of stabbing Bello to death during a domestic dispute at their Maitama residence. She was sentenced to death by hanging.
Despite spending nearly seven years at the Suleja Correctional Centre, her fate appeared to shift earlier this year when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu exercised executive powers to reduce her punishment to a 12-year jail term.
The Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, defended the clemency, saying Sanda was considered on compassionate grounds and in the best interest of the children, citing her good conduct, new lifestyle, and remorse.
However, in a split judgement of 4–1, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court on Friday overturned that presidential intervention, insisting that the original death sentence remains valid.
Delivering the lead judgement, Justice Moore Adumein ruled that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, and reaffirmed both the conviction and sentence earlier upheld by the Court of Appeal.
The apex court dismissed Sanda’s appeal in its entirety, describing it as lacking merit.
In a significant constitutional pronouncement, the Supreme Court held that President Tinubu’s decision to grant clemency was improper, noting that the executive arm cannot interfere with a matter still undergoing judicial review.
According to the court, it was wrong for the President to exercise pardon powers in a culpable homicide case where an appeal was pending effectively nullifying the reduced sentence.
The ruling slams the door shut on Sanda’s legal options and resets her punishment to the original death sentence