Supreme Court Affirms Lamido’s Son’s Conviction Over Undeclared $40,000 At Airport

The Supreme Court has thrown out an appeal filed by Aminu Sule Lamido, son of former Jigawa State governor Sule Lamido, over his conviction for failing to properly declare $40,000 at an airport.

In a unanimous ruling on Friday, the justices of the apex court said the appeal lacked merit and upheld the decisions of the lower courts.

Aminu was arrested by officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on December 11, 2012, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport as he was about to board a flight to Cairo, Egypt.

According to the prosecution, he declared $10,000 to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) but was later found to be carrying an extra $40,000 that was not listed on his currency declaration form.

The EFCC subsequently charged him at the Federal High Court in Kano on a single count of making a false declaration of foreign currency, an offence under the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.

On July 12, 2015, the trial court found him guilty and ordered that 25 percent of the undeclared amount be forfeited to the Federal Government.

Aminu challenged the ruling at the Court of Appeal in Kaduna, seeking to overturn both the conviction and the forfeiture order.

However, in a judgment delivered on December 7, 2015, the appellate court dismissed his appeal, a decision that has now been affirmed by the Supreme Court.

KanyiDaily recalls that Aminu Sule Lamido was previously arraigned in court on a count charge of Money Laundering.