Sule Lamido’s Son Losses S’ Court Appeal Challenging Forfeiture of Undeclared $40,000 Cash

Alex Enumah in Abuja

The Supreme Court on Friday, dismissed the appeal by  Aminu Sule Lamido, son of a former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, on Friday lost his appeal at the Supreme Court, seeking to set aside the concurrent judgments which ordered his forfeiture of the sum of $40,000 to the Federal Government.

A five-member panel of the apex court, led by Justice Inyang Okoro, dismissed the appeal for lacking merit.

The appeal was in respect of a judgment convicting Aminu for failing to declare the said funds at the Kano airport while travelling to Egypt in 2024.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned Aminu on a one count charge bordering on failure and false declaration of foreign currency.

He was arrested on December 11, 2012 by the EFCC at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, on his way to Egypt over alleged failure to declare the sum of $40,000 cash in the Customs Currency Declaration Form after initially declaring the statutory $10,000 cash to the Nigeria Custom Service (NCS).

He was subsequently arraigned before the Federal High Court in Kano which convicted him on July 12, 2015 and ordered him to forfeit 25 per cent of the undeclared foreign currency to the Federal Government.

Dissatisfied, Aminu approached the Court of Appeal, in Kaduna, praying for an order setting aside the judgment of the lower court.

But the appellate court, in its judgment delivered on Monday, December 7, 2015 and read by Justice Habeeb Abiru, dismissed the appeal by Aminu and upheld the decision of the lower court while resolving all the issues raised against Aminu (the appellant).

Further dissatisfied, Aminu approached the Supreme Court, for an order setting aside his conviction and nullify the judgments of the Federal High Court and that of the Court of Appeal.

However, the apex court, in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Adamu Jauro as read by Justice Abubakar Umar, held that “the appeal was doomed to fail” and subsequently dismissed it.

The apex court subsequently affirmed the concurrent judgments of the two lower courts.

It is instructive to note that the lead prosecuting EFCC lawyer, DCE Sa’ad Hanafi, now Acting Zonal Director of Benin Directorate of the Commission, handled the case all through from the Federal High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, while Chief O E B Offiong (SAN) represented Aminu during the proceedings.

At the last adjourned date of the matter before the Supreme Court, parties adopted their briefs of arguments while the apex court reserved its judgment and consequently fixed Friday, January 16, 2026 for its judgment on the appeal.