ustice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court of Nigeria in Abuja has fixed April 1 for the fresh arraignment of former Jigawa State governor Sule Lamido over alleged ₦1.3 billion corruption charges filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Lamido will be arraigned alongside his two sons, Aminu Lamido and Mustapha Lamido, who are accused of participating in the alleged fraud through fictitious contract awards.
The judge fixed the new date after the defendants failed to appear in court for their plea.
Their counsel, Joe Agi (SAN), apologised for their absence, explaining that notice of the hearing was received late on Thursday evening. He added that the former governor and his sons reside in Kano and could not travel to Abuja at short notice.
Agi assured the court that the defendants would appear on the adjourned date.
However, counsel for the EFCC, Chile Okoroma (SAN), expressed surprise at their absence, stating that the defendants had been properly served with the trial notice.
Okoroma also disclosed that the EFCC had written to the Chief Judge of the court, John Tsoho, requesting that the original trial judge, Ijeoma Ojukwu—who was transferred to Calabar—be reassigned to handle the case.
Justice Lifu noted that the issue raised by the EFCC was administrative and would be handled by the Chief Judge.
Background of the case
The EFCC first charged Lamido, his sons and their companies—Bamaina Holdings Ltd and Speeds International Ltd—in 2015 on 27 counts of alleged money laundering involving about ₦1.35 billion.
The anti-graft agency alleged that Lamido abused his office between 2007 and 2015 while serving as governor to launder funds received as kickbacks from state government contracts.
After the prosecution presented more than 16 witnesses and closed its case, the defendants filed a no-case submission, arguing that the prosecution had not provided sufficient evidence for them to open a defence.
In November 2022, Justice Ojukwu dismissed the application and ordered the defendants to enter their defence.
However, in July 2023 the Court of Appeal of Nigeria ruled that the Federal High Court in Abuja lacked territorial jurisdiction, holding that the case should have been tried in Jigawa State.
The EFCC later appealed the decision.
On January 16, 2026, the Supreme Court of Nigeria overturned the Court of Appeal’s ruling in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Abubakar Umar.
The apex court held that the defendants had a case to answer and ordered the matter to return to the Federal High Court for continuation of the trial.