October 12, 2025
By Tobi Akinnubi
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has granted presidential pardon to Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death in 2020 for the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello.
Sanda, who had spent six years and eight months at the Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre, was among 175 Nigerians and foreigners who benefited from the president’s latest exercise of the prerogative of mercy.
In a statement released on Saturday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency said Sanda’s clemency followed repeated appeals from her family and consideration of her conduct while in custody.
According to the statement, “Her family pleaded for her release, arguing that it was in the best interest of her two children. The plea was also anchored on her good conduct in jail, her remorse, and her embracement of a new lifestyle, demonstrating her commitment to being a model prisoner.”
The presidential pardon, the statement added, was part of a broader decision to extend clemency to individuals convicted under various circumstances, including posthumous pardons for notable figures such as the late environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, Major General Mamman Vatsa, and other members of the “Ogoni Nine.”
President Tinubu’s decision, according to the Presidency, was aimed at promoting justice tempered with mercy and reinforcing the government’s commitment to national reconciliation and social cohesion.
The Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM) had earlier reviewed the cases of inmates and recommended those who met the criteria for clemency, based on age, health condition, time served, and demonstrated remorse.
Maryam Sanda was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging by an Abuja High Court in January 2020 for killing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, son of a former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mohammed Bello Haliru.
Her release brings to an end one of the most widely followed criminal cases in Nigeria’s recent judicial history.
