President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has commuted the death sentence of Maryam Sanda, who was convicted in 2020 for killing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, to 12 years imprisonment.
The decision was announced on Wednesday through a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga. According to the statement, the clemency was granted on compassionate grounds after due consideration by the Council of State and upon the recommendation of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy.
According to Onanuga, the President’s decision was influenced by Sanda’s good conduct in custody, her apparent reformation, and the need to ensure the welfare of her young children.
Recall that Sanda was sentenced to death by hanging by an Abuja High Court in January 2020 after being found guilty of stabbing her husband, the late Bilyaminu Bello, son of former PDP National Chairman Haliru Bello, during a domestic dispute in 2017. She has since been serving her sentence at the Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre.
By the new directive, Sanda’s death sentence has been reduced to a 12-year prison term, meaning her incarceration will now be counted from the date of her initial detention.
The commutation forms part of a broader exercise under President Tinubu’s recent clemency orders, signed pursuant to Sections 175 (1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). The President also approved the relocation of the secretariat of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy from the Ministry of Special Duties to the Ministry of Justice.
He further directed the Attorney-General of the Federation to issue fresh guidelines for the processing of pardon and clemency applications to ensure transparency and wider consultations with relevant security and justice institutions.
