Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed April 1 for the fresh arraignment of former Jigawa State governor Sule Lamido over an alleged ₦1.3 billion corruption case filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Lamido is expected to be arraigned alongside his two sons, Aminu Lamido and Mustapha Lamido, who were accused of participating in the alleged fraud through fictitious contract awards.
The judge fixed the new date after the former governor and his sons failed to appear in court to take their plea.
Their counsel, Joe Agi (SAN), apologised for their absence, explaining that information about the scheduled trial reached them only on Thursday evening.
He told the court that the defendants reside in Kano State and were unable to travel to Abuja due to the short notice. The senior lawyer, however, assured the court that the accused persons would be present on the next adjourned date.
Counsel for the EFCC, Chile Okoroma (SAN), expressed surprise at their absence, noting that the defendants had been duly served with the hearing notice.
Okoroma also disclosed that the EFCC had written to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, John Tsoho, requesting that the original trial judge, Ijeoma Ojukwu, who has since been transferred to Calabar, be returned to Abuja to continue the trial.
Justice Lifu described the EFCC’s request as an administrative matter to be decided by the Chief Judge and subsequently adjourned the case to April 1 for arraignment.
The EFCC initially filed a 27-count charge against Lamido, his sons, and their companies — Bamaina Holdings Ltd and Speeds International Ltd — in 2015 over allegations of money laundering involving about ₦1.35 billion.
The commission alleged that Lamido abused his office between 2007 and 2015 while serving as governor of Jigawa State by laundering funds obtained as kickbacks from state government contracts.
After calling more than 16 witnesses, the prosecution closed its case, but the defendants filed a no-case submission, arguing that the EFCC had failed to present sufficient evidence.
In November 2022, Justice Ojukwu dismissed the application and ordered the defendants to open their defence.
However, in July 2023, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Federal High Court in Abuja lacked territorial jurisdiction to hear the case and held that the trial should have been conducted in Jigawa State.
The EFCC challenged the ruling at the Supreme Court of Nigeria, which in January 2026 set aside the appellate court’s decision.
In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Abubakar Umar, a five-member panel of the apex court ruled that Lamido and his co-defendants had a case to answer and ordered that the trial continue at the Federal High Court.
