President Bola Tinubu has ordered the removal of Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death in 2020 for the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, from the list of individuals granted presidential pardon.
The decision was announced on Wednesday in a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
According to the statement, Tinubu directed that individuals convicted of serious crimes — including kidnapping, drug trafficking, human trafficking, fraud, and illegal possession or trafficking of firearms — be excluded from the pardon list.
Onanuga added that the President also reviewed previous clemency decisions, reducing sentences for some individuals who had been pardoned under earlier lists.
Sanda was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging in January 2020 after a Federal Capital Territory High Court found her guilty of killing her husband during a domestic dispute in 2017.