Tinubu Revokes Presidential Pardon for Maryam Sanda, Convicted Kidnappers, Fraudsters, Others

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has revoked the controversial presidential pardon earlier granted to Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death in 2020 for the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, the son of former PDP National Chairman, Haliru Bello.

The decision follows a wave of public outrage that trailed news of Sanda’s clemency, which many Nigerians described as a “mockery of justice” and an “insult to victims of domestic violence.”

In a statement issued late Tuesday, the Presidency confirmed that the pardon had been withdrawn, and her sentence commuted to 12 years imprisonment instead. The development marks a rare instance of a presidential pardon being reversed after public criticism.

Maryam Sanda was convicted by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja in January 2020 for stabbing her husband to death during a domestic dispute in 2017.

Her trial and subsequent conviction drew national attention and reignited debates about gender-based violence and judicial fairness.

Reacting to the revocation, the founder of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) described the President’s decision as a “welcome development,” saying it corrected what he termed “a needless abuse of clemency.”

In a now deleted Facebook post, the FIJ founder wrote: “President Bola Tinubu’s reversal of the state pardon granted to killer wife Maryam Sanda is a welcome development. It was a needless abuse of clemency that should never have happened in the first place. But I can tell you the Sanda family have not given up and will make another shot at clemency in the future. It’s a powerful, desperate family that invested a lot of time, effort, money, and manipulation into the pathway to the now-forfeited clemency. Would be naive to expect them to give up now.”

The revocation has been met with mixed reactions. While some human rights groups and activists hailed Tinubu’s move as a victory for justice and due process, others questioned the legality of altering a presidential pardon once granted.

As of press time, the Ministry of Justice had not released a formal clarification on the legal framework supporting the revocation, but sources say a supplementary executive order may be in the works to formalize the change.