Alleged ₦1.35bn Fraud: Retrial of Sule Lamido, Sons Stalled

The retrial of former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, his two sons and others over an alleged ₦1.35 billion fraud was stalled on Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja due to the absence of the defendants.

The case, recently reassigned to Justice Peter Lifu, could not proceed as Lamido and the other defendants were not present in court. However, counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Chile Okoroma (SAN), and defence counsel, Joe Agi (SAN), were in attendance.

Agi told the court that the defence received the hearing notice late on Thursday at about 5:00 p.m., explaining that the defendants, who reside in Kano State, were unable to travel to Abuja because there were no available flights. He assured the court that the defendants would be present at the next adjourned hearing.

During the proceedings, EFCC counsel Okoroma urged the court to return the case to the former trial judge, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, who had previously handled the matter. He added that a letter had already been sent to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court requesting the reassignment.

In response, Agi said he had not been served with the letter.

Justice Lifu then asked Okoroma whether he was still employed by the EFCC, to which the lawyer replied that he was not.

The judge noted that Okoroma’s request suggested that Justice Ojukwu should return from Calabar to continue the trial. He stressed that the case had been pending since 2015 and emphasised the need to move forward with the hearing.

“The Chief Judge assigned the case to me and it is my duty to begin hearing it as an obedient servant,” the judge said.

Justice Lifu directed the EFCC counsel to provide the defence with a copy of the letter requesting the reassignment, after which the defence indicated it would raise objections if necessary.

The court subsequently adjourned the case until April 1 for hearing.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court had on January 16 ordered Lamido and the other defendants to stand trial over the alleged fraud.

In two unanimous judgments delivered by a five-member panel, the apex court allowed appeals filed by the Federal Government through the EFCC. The appeals challenged the July 25, 2023 decision of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which upheld the no-case submission by the defendants and struck out the 37-count charge on the ground that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction.

In the lead judgment, Justice Abubakar Umar set aside the appellate court’s ruling and upheld the earlier decision of Justice Ojukwu, who had dismissed the no-case submission and ordered the defendants to open their defence.

Lamido is accused of abusing his office as Jigawa State governor between 2007 and 2015 by allegedly laundering funds received as kickbacks from companies awarded contracts by the state government.

Other defendants in the 37-count charge include Lamido’s sons, Aminu and Mustapha; Aminu Wada Abubakar; as well as two companies, Bamaina Holdings Ltd and Speeds International Ltd.