Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has fixed April 1, 2026, for the fresh arraignment of former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, over ₦1.35 billion corruption charges preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Lamido is to be arraigned alongside his two sons, Aminu Lamido and Mustapha Lamido, who allegedly committed the fraud with their father through fictitious contract awards.
Justice Lifu fixed the new date on Friday following the absence of the former governor and his sons in court to take their plea.
Although the fresh arraignment was scheduled to hold on Friday, their counsel, Mr. Joe Agi, SAN, apologised for their absence, explaining that information about the trial was received on Thursday evening.
He said the former governor and his sons reside in Kano and could not make it to court due to the distance and the short notice of the hearing.
The senior lawyer thereafter undertook to produce the accused persons on the next adjourned date to face their trial.
However, counsel to the EFCC, Mr. Chile Okoroma, SAN, said he was surprised that the three defendants were not in court, having been served with the hearing notice.
Okoroma added that the EFCC had written a letter to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, requesting that the initial trial judge, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, who had been transferred to Calabar, be brought back to Abuja for the continuation of the trial.
Justice Lifu noted that the issue raised in the EFCC’s letter was an administrative matter to be determined by the Chief Judge but proceeded to fix April 1 for the arraignment.
The EFCC had, in 2015, charged Lamido, his two sons, and their companies before the Federal High Court in Abuja on 27 counts of money laundering involving ₦1.35 billion, allegedly siphoned from the state in a money laundering scheme.
According to the anti-graft agency, Lamido and his co-defendants allegedly committed the offences during his tenure as governor of the state.
The commission alleged that he abused his office between 2007 and 2015 to launder funds received as kickbacks from state government contracts.
Apart from the Lamidos, other defendants in the case are their companies, Bamaina Holdings Ltd and Speeds International Ltd.
After the EFCC had called more than 16 witnesses and closed its case, the defendants filed a no-case submission, arguing that the prosecution had not presented sufficient evidence to require them to open their defence.
However, the trial judge, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, dismissed the submission and ordered them to enter their defence in November 2022.
Lamido subsequently appealed the ruling, and in July 2023, the Court of Appeal upheld the no-case submission and ruled that the Federal High Court in Abuja lacked territorial jurisdiction to hear the case.
The appellate court held that the trial should have been conducted in Jigawa State, where the alleged offences occurred.
However, in August 2023, the EFCC proceeded to the Supreme Court, asking it to overturn the Court of Appeal’s decision.
The Supreme Court, on January 16, 2026, set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal that discharged Sule Lamido and his sons, Mustapha and Aminu, of the money laundering charges.
A five-member panel of the apex court delivered a unanimous judgment read by Justice Abubakar Umar, holding that the defendants had a case to answer.
The Supreme Court subsequently ordered that the matter be returned to the Federal High Court for the continuation of trial.
