The Supreme Court has today nullified the presidential pardon granted to Maryam Sanda and reinstated her death sentence for the 2017 murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello.
The court, in a decisive 4-1 majority decision, held that the pardon issued by President Bola Tinubu was an improper intervention, particularly as Sanda’s appeal was still pending before the judiciary.
The ruling effectively sends the Abuja homemaker back to death row, upholding the original death-by-hanging sentence passed by an FCT High Court in 2020 and later affirmed by the Court of Appeal.
Justice Moore A. Adumein, who delivered the lead judgment, stated that the evidence against Sanda was overwhelming and left no room for doubt regarding her guilt in the “unlawful killing.”
He emphasised that the presidential power of prerogative of mercy was misapplied in this instance, criticizing the pardon for short-circuiting the judicial process in a capital offense.
“The executive pardon, while constitutionally provided for, cannot be a tool to undermine a judicial determination of guilt, especially in a matter of homicide that was still subject to appellate scrutiny,” Justice Adumein declared from the bench.
The ruling culminates a prolonged legal battle that began with a domestic altercation in 2017, which led to Bello’s fatal stabbing. Sanda was convicted and sentenced to death in 2020.
In a move hailed by some as humanitarian, President Tinubu had commuted her sentence to 12 years imprisonment earlier this year.
The sole dissenting justice, whose detailed opinion is yet to be released, argued for the validity of the presidential pardon, setting the stage for a significant constitutional discourse on the separation of powers.
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