The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal by Aminu Sule Lamido, the 34-year-old son of former Jigawa Governor, Sule Lamido, against his conviction on the charge of failure to declare $40,000 cash at the airport and false declaration of foreign currency brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The apex court, in a unanimous judgment of a five-member panel, delivered on Friday, resolved all the three issues, identified for determination in the appeal, against the appellant.
In the lead judgment written by Justice Adamu Jauro, but read by Justice Abubakar Umar, the apex court held that the appeal lacked merit, dismissed it and affirmed the earlier judgment of the Court of Appeal, Kaduna which upheld the decision of the Federal High Court, Kano.
The case dates back to December 11, 2012, when Aminu was arrested at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport while preparing to travel to Cairo, Egypt. He had declared $10,000 to the Nigeria Customs Service but was found in possession of $50,000 in cash.
He was arraigned on February 4, 2013, before the Federal High Court in Kano on a one-count charge of false declaration of foreign currency under the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act and related laws.
The Federal High Court, Kano had, in its judgment on July 12, 2015 convicted Aminu and ordered him to forfeit 25 per cent of the undeclared foreign currency to the Federal Government.
The Court of Appeal in Kaduna upheld that judgment on December 7, 2015.
Dissatisfied, Aminu Lamido appealed to the Supreme Court, seeking to nullify the decisions of the lower courts. At the last hearing, counsel for both sides adopted their written briefs, after which the apex court reserved judgment.
In Friday’s ruling, the Supreme Court held that the appeal lacked merit on all grounds, leaving intact the forfeiture order.
The court further affirmed that both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal properly evaluated the evidence and delivered judgments in line with the law.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has also ordered the resumption of the corruption trial involving Sule Lamido, former Jigawa State governor, and his sons, Mustapha and Aminu Lamido, over alleged financial crimes totaling N1.35 billion filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In a unanimous decision delivered by Justice Abubakar Umar for a five-member panel, the court upheld the EFCC’s appeal on Friday in Abuja.
As a result, the Supreme Court set aside the July 2023 judgment of the Court of Appeal that had discharged Lamido and his sons.
The court directed that the defendants return to the Federal High Court to answer the charges, instructing the EFCC to reinstate the case to allow them present their defence.
Lamido, his sons, Aminu Wada Abubakar, and two companies Bamaina Holdings Limited and Speeds International Limited were originally arraigned before Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
They were charged on a 37-count amended charge bordering on money laundering and abuse of office.
The EFCC alleged that Lamido, who governed Jigawa State from 2007 to 2015, laundered N1.35 billion in kickbacks from contractors handling state projects.
After the prosecution closed its case, the defendants filed a no-case submission, contending that the EFCC failed to establish a prima facie case against them.
The Federal High Court dismissed the application, holding that sufficient evidence had been presented to require the defendants to enter their defence.
Lamido appealed the ruling, but the Court of Appeal in July 2023 overturned the decision and struck out the charges.
The EFCC then appealed to the Supreme Court, asking it to restore the Federal High Court’s ruling and order the continuation of the trial.
The commission argued that the Court of Appeal erred in law by discharging the defendants despite evidence linking them to the alleged offences.