Justice Peter Odo Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja has scheduled April 1 for the fresh arraignment of former Sule Lamido over an alleged N1.3 billion corruption case filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Lamido is expected to appear in court alongside his two sons, Aminu Lamido and Mustapha Lamido, who are also accused of participating in the alleged fraud through the award of fictitious contracts.
The judge fixed the new date on Friday after the defendants failed to appear in court to take their plea.
Although the arraignment had been scheduled for Friday, counsel to the Lamido family, Joe Agi (SAN), apologised to the court for their absence. He explained that information about the hearing only reached the defendants on Thursday evening, leaving them insufficient time to travel from Kano to Abuja.
The senior lawyer assured the court that the defendants would be present on the next adjourned date to respond to the charges.
However, counsel to the EFCC, Chile Okoroma (SAN), expressed surprise at the absence of the defendants, stating that they had already been served with the notice of trial.
Okoroma also informed the court that the EFCC had written to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, John Tsoho, requesting that the former trial judge, Ijeoma Ojukwu, who had since been transferred to Calabar, be reassigned to continue the case in Abuja.
Justice Lifu noted that the request made by the anti-graft agency was an administrative matter to be decided by the Chief Judge, before fixing April 1 for the fresh arraignment.
The EFCC initially filed the case in 2015, accusing Lamido, his sons and their companies—Bamaina Holdings Ltd and Speeds International Ltd—of 27 counts of money laundering involving about N1.3 billion allegedly diverted from Jigawa State government funds during Lamido’s tenure as governor between 2007 and 2015.
During the trial, the anti-corruption agency presented more than 16 witnesses before closing its case. The defendants subsequently filed a no-case submission, arguing that the prosecution had failed to establish sufficient evidence requiring them to open their defence.
In November 2022, Justice Ojukwu dismissed the application and ordered the defendants to enter their defence. The defendants later appealed the ruling.
In July 2023, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Federal High Court in Abuja lacked territorial jurisdiction, stating that the trial should have been conducted in Jigawa State where the alleged offences occurred.
The EFCC challenged the decision at the Supreme Court. On January 16, 2026, the apex court set aside the appellate court’s ruling and held that the defendants had a case to answer, directing that the matter be returned to the Federal High Court for continuation of the trial.
