The decision by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to grant a presidential pardon to Maryam Sanda, convicted of the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, has ignited intense public outrage and a fierce moral debate across the nation.
The controversial clemency was part of a broader prerogative of mercy granted to 175 individuals, which included pardons for historical figures and sentence reductions for various inmates.
Sanda was sentenced to death by hanging in 2020 for the culpable homicide of Bilyaminu Bello, the son of a former Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party.
She had barely served six years and eight months of her sentence at the Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre before her pardon was announced.
The Presidency, in its defense, stated that the decision was anchored on pleas from her family, citing her remorse, good conduct during incarceration, and the welfare of her two young children.
However, the pardon of a high-profile convicted murderer has drawn condemnation from critics.
Kenneth Okonkwo, a political commentator and lawyer, articulated the moral offense felt by many, stating that Sanda’s pardon is akin to “murdering him afresh.”
In a tweet on his X handle on Sunday, October 12, 2025, Okonkwo argued that a person who escalated from being a mother to murdering the father of her children cannot be trusted to raise them.
He rejected the notion of mercy in this context, warning that any individual who pardoned such a convict effectively becomes an accomplice to the murder.
Okonkwo wrote, “The pardon of the murderer of Bilyaminu Bello is an act of murdering him afresh. A woman who graduated from being a mother of her children to being a murderer of their father can hardly be trusted to raise the children of the same man she murdered. If I were a child, I would have nothing to do with any person who murdered my father by whatever name called. Whoever pardoned such a person has blood in his own hands because he has become an accomplice to the murder. This smells more of a political decision than a merciful act.”
Okonkwo’s sentiment reflects a broader public concern that the highly unusual clemency—which also extended to numerous drug offenders and corrupt officials—smells more of political influence than a genuine act of compassion.
The pardon of Sanda, a capital offender, stands out as one of the most contentious aspects of the President’s expansive use of the prerogative of mercy, profoundly fueling the narrative that justice is being undermined for political or elitist considerations. See, More, Here>>>
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