The Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence imposed on Maryam Sanda, daughter-in-law of a former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for the murder of her husband, Bilyamin Bello.

In a split decision of four to one, a five-member panel of the apex court reaffirmed the judgment ordering her execution by hanging, dismissing her appeal for lacking merit.

Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Moore Adumein held that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt, noting that the Court of Appeal was right to affirm the verdict of the FCT High Court.

The apex court declared the appeal “unassailable” and rejected all arguments raised by Sanda seeking to overturn her conviction.

In a notable pronouncement, the court said it was wrong for President Bola Tinubu to attempt to exercise executive powers to grant a pardon in a culpable homicide case that was still undergoing appellate review.

Sanda was convicted on January 27, 2020, after the FCT High Court found her guilty of fatally stabbing her husband at their Abuja home in 2017. She has spent over six years and eight months in Suleja prison.

President Tinubu had earlier reduced her sentence to 12 years, citing “compassionate grounds and in the best interest of the children.”

Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) defended the clemency, highlighting her “good conduct, embraced a new lifestyle, model to prisoners, and remorsefulness.”

With Friday’s ruling, the apex court’s decision restores the original death sentence handed to her by the trial court.