The Nigerian Supreme Court has today affirmed the death sentence for Maryam Sanda in a landmark ruling, nullifying the Presidential pardon granted to her by the country’s President, Bola Tinubu.
The judgment was delivered by a five-member panel of justices, split four-to-one, dismissing Sanda’s final appeal and reinstating the death sentence by hanging.
Sandra was first handed down the death penalty on January 27, 2020, by the Abuja High Court. She was found guilty of culpable homicide in the 2017 stabbing death of her husband, Bilyamin Bello.
This means a historical overturn of the Presidential pardon in Nigeria. The lead verdict, delivered by Justice Moore Adumein, said “it was wrong for the President to exercise his pardon powers over a case of culpable homicide while an appeal was still pending before the judiciary.”
President Tinubu commuted Sanda’s total sentence to 12 years on compassionate grounds.
According to the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), the pardon was due to her “good conduct in prison, remorse, and the interest of her children.”
Tinubu’s pardon has now been rendered void by the Supreme Court’s decision. The Apex court decided that the Court of Appeal’s earlier judgement, which had upheld the death sentence, was “unassailable.”
Sanda’s case had been ongoing for eight years since the crime was committed in 2017. She had served approximately six years and eight months at the Suleja prison before Mr Tinubu intervened.
