The Supreme Court on Friday rejected an appeal from Aminu Sule Lamido, the son of ex-Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido, regarding the forfeiture of $40,000 to the Federal Government.
A five-judge panel headed by Justice Inyang Okoro determined that the appeal was baseless, upholding the rulings of the lower courts.
In a unanimous decision handed down by Justice Adamu Jauro and presented by Justice Abubakar Sadiq Umar, the court declared that the appeal was “destined to fail” and officially confirmed the forfeiture of the funds to the Federal Government.
The incident occurred on December 11, 2012, when Aminu was apprehended at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport as he was getting ready to fly to Cairo, Egypt.
He reported $10,000 to the Nigeria Customs Service but was discovered with $50,000 in cash.
On February 4, 2013, he faced arraignment in Kano on a single count of false declaration of foreign currency in violation of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act and associated legislation.
In its ruling on Friday, the Supreme Court determined that the appeal was unmeritorious on all grounds, preserving the forfeiture order.
The court additionally confirmed that the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal accurately assessed the evidence and issued rulings consistent with the law.
