The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the death sentence imposed on Maryam Sanda, who was convicted of killing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, in their Abuja home in 2017.
Okay News reports that Sanda, daughter-in-law of a former PDP Chairman, was sentenced to death by hanging by an Abuja High Court on January 27, 2020. She had spent about six years and eight months in Suleja prison before President Bola Tinubu, exercising executive powers, commuted her punishment to 12 years imprisonment as part of a recent presidential pardon.
A five-member panel of the Supreme Court delivered a 4–1 split decision, dismissing Sanda’s appeal and reinstating the original death sentence.
In the lead judgment authored by Justice Moore Adumein, the court held that the prosecution proved the charge of culpable homicide beyond reasonable doubt and that both the trial court’s verdict and the Court of Appeal’s affirmation were legally sound.
The apex court further ruled that it was wrong for President Tinubu to grant clemency in a case still undergoing judicial review, stressing that the executive cannot override a subsisting court process.
The Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, had earlier defended Sanda’s inclusion in the presidential pardon list, describing the decision as “compassionate” and “in the best interest of the children.” He listed her “good conduct, remorsefulness, and positive influence on other inmates” as factors that warranted leniency.
The Supreme Court rejected all issues raised in Sanda’s appeal and declared that her conviction was valid and properly grounded in law.
