Supreme Court overturns Tinubu’s pardon, restores Maryam Sanda’s death sentence

The Supreme Court on Friday overturned a presidential pardon granted to Abuja housewife Maryam Sanda and reinstated her death sentence for the 2020 murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello.

Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Moore Adumein said the prosecution had proven the case “beyond reasonable doubt,” and the Court of Appeal had rightly affirmed the trial court’s ruling. The apex court ruled that the Executive erred in attempting to issue a pardon while the case was still under judicial review.

The five-member panel, in a four-to-one decision, dismissed Sanda’s appeal as lacking merit, effectively restoring the death penalty imposed by the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and upheld by the Court of Appeal.

President Bola Tinubu had earlier reduced Sanda’s sentence to 12 years’ imprisonment on compassionate grounds, a move now nullified by the Supreme Court’s decision.

Justice Adumein emphasised that the courts must remain independent and that executive interventions cannot override judicial findings in ongoing criminal cases.