The Supreme Court has overridden the pardon granted by President Bola Tinubu to Maryam Sanda, who was in 2020 sentenced to death by hanging for killing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, during a domestic dispute.
President Tinubu had reduced Sanda’s sentence to 12 years imprisonment on compassionate ground, but in a judgment a on Friday, the Supreme Court, in a split decision of four-to-one, affirmed the death sentence handed Sanda by the Court of Appeal, Abuja which upheld the decision of a HIgh Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), sentencing her to death by hanging.
Delivering the majority opinion, Justice Moore Adumein emphasized that the evidence clearly established Sanda’s guilt in the unlawful killing, with no room for doubt. He further criticized the pardon as an improper use of executive authority, especially since it came while her appeal was still active in a homicide matter.
