The Supreme Court on Friday set aside the presidential clemency earlier granted to Maryam Sanda and restored the death sentence imposed on her for the killing of her husband, Bilyamin Bello.
The apex court delivered the ruling in a split decision of four to one, ending years of legal contest over the high-profile case.
Sanda was convicted on January 27, 2020, after an Abuja High Court found her guilty of fatally stabbing Bello at their Maitama residence in 2017.
She was sentenced to death by hanging and later remanded at the Suleja Correctional Centre.
She had spent about six years and eight months in custody before Tinubu reduced her sentence to 12 years’ imprisonment.
The Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, defended her inclusion in the presidential pardon at the time, saying it was granted “on compassionate grounds and in the best interest of the children,” adding that her record of “good conduct, new lifestyle, model behaviour and remorsefulness” played a part.
However, delivering the lead judgment on Friday, Justice Moore Adumein ruled that the prosecution proved the case beyond reasonable doubt and that the trial and appellate courts were right to affirm her conviction.
The Supreme Court held that Sanda failed to show any error in the earlier findings.
The court also faulted the Executive’s intervention while the matter was still pending, describing Tinubu’s clemency as inappropriate in a homicide case before the final court had given its decision.
“With this decision, the death sentence earlier passed by the trial court stands,” the court declared.
