Dare Babalola
The Supreme Court has nullified the Court of Appeal’s ruling that acquitted former Jigawa State governor Sule Lamido and his sons, Mustapha and Aminu, of money laundering allegations, effectively reviving the charges against them.
A five-member Supreme Court panel ruled unanimously on Friday to grant the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s appeals, setting aside the lower court’s decision in the case against Sule Lamido and his sons.
The apex court, led by Justice Abubakar Umar, overturned the 25 July 2023 Appeal Court ruling, upholding instead the earlier decision by Judge Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court that Sule Lamido and co-defendants have a case to answer.
The Supreme Court ordered that the matter be returned to the Federal High Court for continuation of trial.
In 2015, the EFCC charged Lamido, his two sons, and their companies with 37 counts of money laundering involving about N1.35 billion allegedly siphoned from Jigawa State during his governorship.
The commission said he abused his office between 2007 and 2015 to launder funds received as kickbacks from state government contracts.
Other defendants in the case are his sons, Aminu and Mustapha Lamido, Aminu Wada Abubakar, and their companies, Bamaina Holdings Ltd and Speeds International Ltd.
After EFCC called more than 16 witnesses before closing its case, the defendants filed a no‑case submission, arguing that the prosecution had not presented sufficient evidence to require them to open their defence.
But trial judge Ojukwu dismissed the submission and ordered them to enter defence in November 2022.
Lamido, who recently indicated interest in becoming the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), went on appeal against the ruling.
In July 2023, the Court of Appeal upheld the no‑case submission and ruled that the Federal High Court in Abuja lacked territorial jurisdiction to sit on the case in the first place.
The Court of Appeal held that the trial should have been conducted in Jigawa State, where the alleged offences occurred.
However, in August 2023, EFCC asked the Supreme Court to overturn the appellate court’s decision, leading to today’s Judgement.
