EFCC Wins As S’Court Orders Trial Of Ex-Governor Lamido, Sons In ₦1.35bn Fraud Case

The Supreme Court has ordered the continuation of the trial of former governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, and his two sons, Mustapha and Aminu Lamido.

They are facing ₦1.35bn corruption charge brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The apex court voided the judgement of the Court of Appeal, which set the former governor and other accused persons free in 2023.

In a judgement, Friday, Justice Abubakar Sadiq Umar, in a unanimous decision of a five-man panel of Justices of the apex Court, held that the appeal by EFCC against the Court of Appeal verdict was meritorious.

Consequently, the Supreme Court ordered that Lamido and his two sons should go back to the Federal High Court, Abuja, and defend themselves from the EFCC allegations.

Lamido, his sons, Aminu Wada Abubakar, and their companies—Bamaina Holdings Limited and Speeds International Limited—were arraigned before Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on a 37-count amended charge, including money laundering and abuse of office.

The EFCC alleged that Lamido, who governed Jigawa State from 2007 to 2015, laundered ₦1.35 billion in kickbacks from contractors handling state government projects.

At the completion of the EFCC case, Lamido and other defendants filed a no-case submission on the ground that no prima facie case was established against them.

The Federal High Court, in a ruling, dismissed the no-case submission and held that sufficient evidence had been supplied by EFCC that required them to enter defense.

The former governor took the case to the Court of Appeal, which in July 2023m disagreed with the Federal High Court and dismissed the charges against the defendants.

Not satisfied with the Court of Appeal’s decision, the EFCC filed an appeal at the Supreme Court praying the apex Court to uphold the ruling of the Federal High Court and remit the matter to the court for continuation of trial.

EFCC submitted that the Court of Appeal erred in law by discharging the defendants despite the avalanche of evidence establishing a prima facie case against the former governor and his sons.

The Supreme Court in Friday’s judgement ordered that the charges against the defendants be resuscitated by EFCC for the Lamidos to enter their defense in the corruption trial at the Federal High Court.