Orders Continuation Of Trial Of Lamido, Two Sons In N1.35b Corruption Charges
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the appeal filed by Aminu Sule Lamido, son of former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, and affirmed the judgments of the lower courts convicting him over the non-declaration of foreign currency.
In a unanimous judgment presided over by Justice Adamu Jauro, but delivered by Justice Abubakar Sadiq Umar, the Supreme Court upheld the decisions of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, which found Aminu guilty of false declaration and failure to declare the sum of $40,000 to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
Aminu, who was 34 years old at the time of filing the appeal, was arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on December 11, 2012, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, while attempting to travel to Egypt.
He was accused of declaring only the statutory $10,000 on the Customs Currency Declaration Form despite being in possession of $40,000. He was subsequently arraigned before the Federal High Court in Kano, which on July 12, 2015, convicted him and ordered the forfeiture of 25 per cent of the undeclared foreign currency to the Federal Government.
Dissatisfied with the verdict, Aminu approached the Court of Appeal, Kaduna Division, seeking to overturn the judgment. However, in a judgment delivered on December 7, 2015, and read by Justice Habeeb Abiru, the appellate court dismissed the appeal and affirmed the decision of the trial court, resolving all issues against him.
Still aggrieved, Aminu proceeded to the Supreme Court, urging it to set aside his conviction and nullify the judgments of both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal.
The Supreme Court, however, found no merit in the appeal and affirmed the concurrent judgments of the two lower courts.The case was prosecuted throughout by the EFCC’s lead counsel, Deputy Commander of the EFCC, Sa’ad Hanafi Sa’ad, now Acting Zonal Director of the Commission’s Benin Zonal Directorate. Aminu was represented by Chief O. E. B. Offiong (SAN).
Similarly, the Supreme Court on Friday ordered the continuation of trial of former governor Lamido and his two sons, Mustapha Lamido and Aminu Lamido in the ₦1.35 billion corruption charges brought against them by the EFCC.
The judgment of the Court of Appeal, which in July 2023 set the former governor free, was voided and set aside by the Supreme Court.
Justice Abubakar Sadiq Umar in a unanimous decision of a five-man panel of Justices held that the appeal by EFCC against the Court of Appeal verdict was meritorious and sustained.
Consequently, the Supreme Court ordered that Lamido and his two sons should go back to the Federal High Court and defend themselves from the EFCC allegations.
Lamido, his sons, Aminu Wada Abubakar, and their companies – Bamaina Holdings Limited and Speeds International Limited –were arraigned before Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on a 37-count amended charge, including money laundering and abuse of office.
The EFCC alleged that Lamido, who governed Jigawa from 2007 to 2015, laundered ₦1.35 billion in kickbacks from contractors handling state government projects.
At the completion of the EFCC case, Lamido and other defendants filed a no case submission on the ground that no prima facie case was established against them.
The Federal High Court, in a ruling, dismissed the no case submission and held that sufficient evidence had been supplied by EFCC that required them to enter defence.
The former governor took the case to the Court of Appeal, which in July 2023 disagreed with the Federal High Court and dismissed the charges against the defendants.
Not satisfied with the Court of Appeal’s decision, the EFCC filed an appeal at the Supreme Court praying it to uphold the ruling of the Federal High Court and remit the matter to the court for continuation of trial.
EFCC submitted that the Court of Appeal erred in law by discharging the defendants despite the avalanche of evidence establishing a prima facie case against the former governor and his sons.
The Supreme Court in Friday’s judgment ordered that the charges against the defendants be resuscitated by the EFCC for them to enter their defence.
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