The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal filed by Aminu Sule Lamido, son of former Jigawa State governor Sule Lamido, challenging his conviction for failing to declare $40,000 at an airport.
In a unanimous decision, the apex court held that the appeal lacked merit and upheld the judgment of the trial court.
Aminu was arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on December 11, 2012, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport while attempting to travel to Cairo, Egypt. The prosecution said he declared $10,000 to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) but was found in possession of an additional $40,000 that was not disclosed on his currency declaration form.
He was subsequently charged before the Federal High Court in Kano on a one-count charge of false declaration of foreign currency, contrary to the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.
On July 12, 2015, the trial court convicted Aminu and ordered him to forfeit 25 per cent of the undeclared sum to the Federal Government. His appeal to the Court of Appeal in Kaduna was dismissed on December 7, 2015, prompting the further appeal to the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court orders continuation of Lamido’s trial
In a related development, the Supreme Court has ordered that the trial of former Governor Sule Lamido, his two sons, and other co-defendants over alleged ₦1.35 billion fraud should continue before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
A five-member panel of the apex court gave the directive in two unanimous judgments, allowing appeals filed by the EFCC. The court upheld the ruling of the trial court dismissing the no-case submissions of the defendants and held that they have a case to answer.
The appeals challenged the July 25, 2023 judgments of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which had upheld the no-case submissions by Lamido and others and struck out the 37-count charge, citing lack of jurisdiction by the Federal High Court.
In the lead judgments, Justice Abubakar Umar set aside the appellate court’s decisions and affirmed the earlier ruling of Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which ordered the defendants to enter their defence.
The EFCC alleges in the charge that Lamido abused his position as governor between 2007 and 2015, laundering funds allegedly received as kickbacks from companies awarded contracts by the Jigawa State Government. The defendants include Lamido’s sons Aminu and Mustapha, Aminu Wada Abubakar, and their companies Bamaina Holdings Ltd and Speeds International Ltd.
