Maryam Sanda: Supreme Court Throws Out Tinubu’s Reversal Of Death Sentence

By Akinwale Kasali

The Supreme Court in a landmark judgment, voided the pardon granted by President Bola Tinubu to Maryam Sanda, and affirmed the death sentence, by hanging, for the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, in 2017. She stabbed him to death in their Abuja home.

In a Four-to-One split decision, the Apex Court dismissed the appeal filed by Sanda, ruling that the prosecution had proved the case of culpable homicide beyond a reasonable doubt.

Delivering the lead Judgment, Justice Moore Adumein held that the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, was correct in upholding the initial death sentence handed down by the Federal Capital Territory High Court in 2020.

Justice Adumein further addressed the legal conundrum created by the Presidential pardon, stating: “It was wrong for the Executive to seek to exercise its power of pardon over a case of culpable homicide, in respect of which an appeal was pending.”

The Court resolved all issues raised in her appeal against her, and declared that the entire appeal was without merit.

The judgment effectively nullifies the compassionate reduction of sentence to 20 years granted by President Bola Tinubu. She was initially granted full pardon under the prerogative of mercy by the President, but the outage raised against it forced Tinubu to cancel tye full pardon, and reduced the death sentence to 12 years imprisonment. She has already spent about six years in prison custody.

reinstating the original conviction for the brutal killing of Bilyaminu Bello during a domestic dispute.

Sanda is expected to return to the status of a convict awaiting execution.

It would be recalled that President Tinubu had previously reduced Sanda’s death sentence to 12 years’ imprisonment on “compassionate grounds” in October 2025, which led to criticism from different quarters, prompting President Tinubu to rescind his decision.

The court resolved all issues raised in her appeal against her, declaring the entire appeal to be without merit