Supreme Court upholds Maryam Sanda’s death sentence, overrules Tinubu’s clemency
The Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence passed on Maryam Sanda, daughter-in-law of a former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), over the killing of her husband, Bilyamin Bello.
Penpushing reports that the Supreme Court equally faulted President Bola Tinubu’s intervention, ruling that it was inappropriate for the Executive to grant clemency in a homicide case while an appeal was still pending.
The woman it would be recalled was convicted on January 27, 2020, by an Abuja High Court, which found her guilty of fatally stabbing her husband at their Maitama home in Abuja in 2017 and was subsequently sentenced to death by hanging.
Penpushing further reports that she had spent about six years and eight months at the Suleja Correctional Centre before the President granted her clemency, reducing the sentence to 12 years’ imprisonment
The Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, later defended her inclusion in the presidential pardon, stating that it was granted on compassionate grounds and in the best interest of the children.
Penpushing also reports that Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) added that her record of good conduct, new lifestyle, model behaviour and remorsefulness formed part of the justification.
The five-member panel of the apex court on Friday in a split decision of four to one reinstated the original death sentence and dismissed her appeal in its entirety, ruling that she failed to show any error in the concurrent findings of the lower courts.
Penpushing reports that Justice Moore Adumein delivering the lead judgment held that the prosecution proved the charge beyond reasonable doubt and that the Court of Appeal was right to affirm the conviction.
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