Aminu Sule Lamido, son of former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, on Friday suffered a legal setback as the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal challenging the forfeiture of $40,000 to the Federal Government.
A five-member panel of the apex court, led by Justice John Inyang Okoro, ruled that the appeal lacked merit, affirming the earlier decisions of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal.
Aminu had been convicted in 2015 for failing to declare the sum while departing from Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport en rute to Egypt in 2024. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned him on a one-count charge of failure and false declaration of foreign currency.
Investigations revealed that Aminu declared only the statutory $10,000 to the Nigeria Customs Service, leaving $40,000 undisclosed. Following his conviction, the Federal High Court ordered the forfeiture of 25 per cent of the undeclared sum to the government.
Dissatisfied with the judgment, Aminu challenged the ruling at the Court of Appeal in Kaduna, which in December 2015 upheld the lower court’s decision, dismissing all arguments raised by his legal team.
In his final bid at the Supreme Court, Aminu sought to nullify the concurrent judgments, but the apex court, in a unanimous ruling delivered by Justice Adamu Jauro and read by Justice Abubakar Umar, held that the appeal was “doomed to fail,” thereby upholding the decisions of the lower courts.
EFCC’s lead prosecutor, DCE Sa’ad Hanafi, now Acting Zonal Director in Benin, handled the case from the Federal High Court through to the Supreme Court. Aminu was represented throughout by Chief O E B Offiong, SAN.
The Supreme Court had reserved judgment after the parties adopted their briefs of arguments in the final hearing, ultimately setting Friday, January 16, 2026, for its pronouncement.
