The Presidency has explained that Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death for killing her husband, was granted clemency out of compassion and consideration for her young children, not a presidential pardon.
Presidential adviser on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, clarified this on Thursday during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time, following public outrage over President Bola Tinubu’s decision to commute Sanda’s death sentence to 12 years’ imprisonment.
“Maryam Sanda was given clemency, not pardon. Her kids were put into consideration. It was a crime of passion, not premeditated,” Onanuga said.
“Anything can happen between a man and a woman in the heat of the moment. The president is moved by compassion.”
Onanuga stressed that Tinubu’s decision reflected empathy rather than political calculation, noting that the president “is not afraid to reverse himself” and “listens to the public.”
Sanda was convicted in 2020 for the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, during a domestic dispute.
Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court held that she fatally stabbed Bello with a kitchen knife, ruling that the prosecution had proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Sanda had spent six years in prison before her death sentence was commuted.