The Supreme Court ordered the trial of former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido and two of his sons, Mustapha and Aminu, on Friday over alleged involvement in money laundering of approximately N1.35 billion.
A five-member panel led by Justice Inyang Okoro unanimously nullified a previous ruling by the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, which had discharged the defendants and struck out the charges against them.
The apex court criticised the appellate court for ending the case on technical grounds and directed that the matter return to the Federal High Court for trial to continue.
The ruling came following two separate appeals—SC/CR/921/2023 and SC/CR/920/2023—filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Lamido and his son Mustapha.
In a related judgment, the Supreme Court also upheld the forfeiture of $40,000 found on Lamido’s son Aminu, which he failed to declare while travelling to Egypt in December 2012. Aminu had declared only $10,000 to the Nigeria Customs Service.
The EFCC charged Aminu with false declaration of foreign currency under the Money Laundering Act.
He was convicted in July 2015 by the Federal High Court in Kano, which ordered him to forfeit 25% of the undeclared cash. This conviction was affirmed by the Court of Appeal in December 2015.
Aminu’s subsequent appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court on Friday.