BREAKING: Tinubu removes Maryam Sanda from presidential pardon list

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the removal of Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death in 2020 for killing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, from the presidential pardon list.

The decision was announced in a statement released on Wednesday by Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy.

According to Onanuga, President Tinubu directed that individuals convicted of serious crimes — including murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking, human trafficking, fraud, and illegal possession of firearms — be excluded from the list of those granted clemency.

He added that some persons who had already been pardoned under earlier considerations would now have their sentences reduced rather than completely commuted.

Sanda’s removal has sparked renewed public attention, given the high-profile nature of her case, which dominated national headlines after she was found guilty of stabbing her husband, the son of a former PDP chairman, to death in Abuja.

More details are expected to follow as the Presidency clarifies the final list of beneficiaries under the new directive.