The Supreme Court has dismissed the murder trial of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd), former Chief Security Officer to ex-Military Head of State, General Sani Abacha, over the killing of Kudirat Abiola.
During proceedings, Lagos State was expected to re-open the case but failed to appear in court. The state also filed no legal process, despite securing leave in 2014 to revive the trial.
Counsel to Al-Mustapha, Mr Paul Daudu, told the apex court that Lagos State had taken no steps to implement the 2014 order permitting it to re-open the case. He said the state failed to file even a notice of appeal, showing no seriousness in prosecuting the matter.
Daudu reminded the court that it gave Lagos State 30 days in 2014 to file its notice of appeal. He noted that more than nine years later, the state had done nothing to comply. He therefore urged the court to hold that Lagos State had abandoned the case and dismiss it entirely.
Presiding Justice Uwani Aba-Aji asked whether Lagos State had received hearing notices. The court registrar confirmed that it had.
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Lagos State had lost interest in the matter and abandoned it. Justice Aba-Aji held that nine years was more than enough time for the state to file a notice and brief of appeal.
The court also criticised the Lagos State Government for failing to provide legal representation or any explanation, despite receiving hearing notices since 2020. Consequently, the Supreme Court dismissed the case. A related matter filed by the Lagos State Governor arising from the same trial also suffered the same fate.
Kudirat Abiola was the wife of businessman and politician, MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election. She was assassinated in Lagos on June 4, 1996 during the political unrest that followed the annulment and her campaign against military rule.
In 2014, the Supreme Court had granted Lagos State permission to challenge the July 12, 2013 judgment of the Court of Appeal, which discharged and acquitted Al-Mustapha. A seven-man panel led by then Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, ordered the state to file its notice of appeal within 30 days.
The permission followed Lagos State’s application to appeal out of time and the consent of Al-Mustapha’s counsel, Joseph Daudu (SAN), who did not oppose the request. The court extended the deadline for Lagos State to appeal from July 12, 2013 to January 7, 2014.
Lagos State had argued that the Court of Appeal erred in law and occasioned a miscarriage of justice by acquitting Al-Mustapha. It said it intended to challenge whether direct or circumstantial evidence linked him to the murder.
The state explained that delays arose from the time taken by two legal teams to review the case and recommend an appeal. It also stated its intention to ask the Supreme Court to overturn the Court of Appeal judgment and restore the death sentence imposed by the Lagos High Court in 2012.
Al-Mustapha, Mohammed Abacha and the late Lateef Shofolahan were arraigned before a Lagos High Court on charges of conspiracy and murder in connection with Kudirat Abiola’s killing. On January 30, 2012, Justice Mojisola Dada convicted them and sentenced them to death by hanging.
However, on July 12, 2013, the Court of Appeal set aside the conviction and acquitted them, ruling that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.