President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a state pardon for Mrs. Maryam Sanda, who was convicted for the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, the son of former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Haliru Bello.

Sanda, who was arrested in November 2017 and sentenced to death by the Federal High Court in Abuja in January 2020, had spent over six years in prison awaiting execution before receiving the presidential clemency.

According to The Guardian, her name was among several individuals who benefited from President Tinubu’s act of clemency, as confirmed by Presidential Spokesperson Bayo Onanuga in a statement issued on Saturday evening.

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“Illegal miners, white-collar convicts, remorseful drug offenders, foreigners, Major General Mamman Vatsa, Major Akubo, Professor Magaji Garba, capital offenders such as Maryam Sanda, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and the other Ogoni Eight were among the 175 convicts and former convicts who received President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s mercy,” Onanuga said.

According to him, the President’s decision was informed by credible reports showing that many of the convicts had demonstrated genuine remorse and maintained good conduct while serving their sentences.

“Some were pardoned due to old age, acquisition of new vocational skills, or enrolment in the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN),” Onanuga added.

He further explained that the President’s gesture was also aimed at correcting historical injustices, including the posthumous pardon granted to Sir Herbert Macaulay, one of Nigeria’s foremost nationalists.