Court Sets April 1 For Sule Lamido, Sons’ Arraignment In N1.35bn ‘Fraud’ Case

A Federal High Court in Abuja has set April 1 for the fresh arraignment of former Jigawa State governor Sule Lamido over an alleged ₦1.35 billion fraud case.

Lamido is expected to appear in court alongside his two sons, Aminu Lamido and Mustapha Lamido, in a case filed against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The trial judge, Peter Lifu, fixed the new date on Friday after the defendants did not show up in court for their scheduled arraignment.

Their lawyer, Joe Agi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), apologised to the court for their absence.

He explained that Lamido and his sons only became aware of the court sitting on Thursday evening.

Agi told the court that the defendants live in Kano and were unable to travel to Abuja at such short notice.

He assured the judge that they would be present at the next hearing to take their plea.

However, the EFCC’s lawyer, Chile Okoroma, expressed surprise that the defendants failed to appear despite being served with a notice of the hearing.

Okoroma also informed the court that the EFCC had written to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, John Tsoho, asking that the former judge handling the case, Ijeoma Ojukwu, who was later transferred to Calabar, be reassigned to Abuja to continue with the trial.

Justice Lifu said the request was an administrative matter that the chief judge would decide before adjourning the case until April 1.

The EFCC initially filed a 27-count charge against Lamido, his two sons, and their companies — Bamaina Holdings Ltd and Speeds International Ltd — in 2015 over the alleged diversion of N1.35 billion.

According to the EFCC, Lamido abused his position as governor between 2007 and 2015 by allegedly receiving kickbacks from government contractors and laundering the funds.

During the trial, the EFCC presented more than 16 witnesses before closing its case.

The defence later filed a no-case submission, arguing that the prosecution had not produced enough evidence for them to begin their defence.

In November 2022, Justice Ojukwu rejected that argument and directed the defendants to open their defence.

However, in July 2023, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Federal High Court in Abuja did not have the authority to hear the case and discharged the defendants.

The EFCC challenged that decision at the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

In January 2026, the Supreme Court overturned the appellate court’s ruling and ordered that the case be returned to the Federal High Court so the trial could continue, stating that the defendants still had questions to answer.

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