Today, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence given to Maryam Sanda, the daughter-in-law of a former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for killing someone in a way that was wrong.
Reports from Vanguard say that an Abuja high court condemned her to death by hanging on January 27, 2020, after she was found guilty of stabbing her husband, Bilyamin Bello, to death at their home in Abuja in 2017.
President Bola Tinubu used his executive powers to shorten her sentence from 12 years to 12 years, even though she had already served nearly six years and eight months in the Suleja Prison.
Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, said that she was included in the recent presidential pardon “out of compassion and in the best interest of the children.” He listed some of the reasons why she was granted clemency, such as “good behavior, embracing a new lifestyle, being a role model to prisoners, and being sorry.”
In the meantime, a five-member panel of judges from the highest court, in a divided decision of four to one, on Friday reaffirmed the court’s decision to hang her.
The court dealt with all of her concerns and overturned her conviction and imprisonment. They also turned down her appeal because it didn’t have any merit.
Justice Moore Adumein gave the first verdict, which said that the prosecution proved her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
It said that the Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold the sentence given by the trial court was not open to challenge.
The Supreme Court said that President Tinubu, as the leader of the executive branch of the government, should not have tried to use his authority to award a pardon in a case of culpable homicide that was still being appealed.
He claims that the goal of this move is to make the holiday season in Lagos easier for everyone and to improve traffic flow.
The minister, speaking in Lagos, stated that the government has kept its prior pledge with the partial reopening.
Umahi promised that Section 1 would be finished and opened to traffic between December 12 and 17, 2025, during an inspection trip of the coastal highway project on November 23, 2025.
Commuters in the Lekki-Ajah corridor are hoping that the terrifying driving conditions they’ve been experiencing will finally come to an end once the highway opens. They anticipate a travel time reduction of over 100% and a travel expense reduction of at least that much.
In addition, Umahi said that April 2026 will be used to finish Section 1 and complete half of Section 2 for full commissioning, with the exception of the bridges, which are included in the Section 2 contract.
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