The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the appeal filed by Aminu Sule Lamido, son of former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido, upholding the convictions handed down by lower courts over his failure to declare foreign currency.
In a unanimous ruling presided over by Justice Adamu Jauro and delivered by Justice Abubakar Sadiq Umar, the apex court affirmed the decisions of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, which had found Aminu guilty of false declaration and failing to declare $40,000 to the Nigeria Customs Service.
Aminu, 34 at the time of filing the appeal, was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on December 11, 2012, at 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 carrying $40,000.
He was arraigned before the Federal High Court in Kano, which, on July 12, 2015, convicted him and ordered the forfeiture of 25 percent of the undeclared funds to the Federal Government.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, Aminu appealed to the Court of Appeal, Kaduna Division. However, in a judgment delivered on December 7, 2015, and read by Justice Habeeb Abiru, the appellate court dismissed the appeal, upholding the trial court’s decision.
Still aggrieved, Aminu approached the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn his conviction and nullify the judgments of both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal.
The apex court, however, found no merit in his appeal and affirmed the concurrent rulings of the lower courts.
The EFCC prosecuted the case throughout, led by Deputy Commander 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).
In a related ruling on Friday, the Supreme Court also ordered the continuation of the trial of former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido and his sons, Mustapha and Aminu, on ₦1.35 billion corruption charges filed by the EFCC.
The Court of Appeal’s July 2023 verdict, which had set the former governor free, was voided and set aside by the apex court. Justice Abubakar Sadiq Umar, speaking for a five-member panel, held that the EFCC’s appeal against the Court of Appeal ruling was meritorious and must be sustained.
The Supreme Court directed that Lamido and his sons return to the Federal High Court to defend themselves against the allegations.
Lamido, his sons, and their companies, Bamaina Holdings Limited and Speeds International Limited, are facing a 37-count amended charge, including money laundering and abuse of office, before Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The EFCC claims that Lamido, who served as governor from 2007 to 2015, laundered ₦1.35 billion in kickbacks from contractors handling state projects.
After the EFCC presented its case, Lamido and the other defendants filed a no-case submission, arguing that no prima facie case had been established.
The Federal High Court dismissed the submission, ruling that the evidence presented by EFCC was sufficient to require the defendants to enter their defense.
The former governor appealed, and the Court of Appeal in July 2023 dismissed the charges, disagreeing with the trial court. Unsatisfied, the EFCC escalated the matter to the Supreme Court, seeking to restore the Federal High Court ruling and resume the trial.
EFCC argued that “the Court of Appeal erred in law by discharging the defendants despite the overwhelming evidence establishing a prima facie case against the former governor and his sons.”
In its Friday judgment, the Supreme Court ordered that the charges against the Lamidos be reinstated, allowing them to formally enter their defense in the ongoing corruption case.
