The Supreme Court has ordered a former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, his two sons, Aminu and Mustapha, and other defendants to enter their defence at the Federal High Court in Abuja over an alleged N1.35 billion fraud.
A five-member panel of the apex court gave the directive on Friday, January 16, 2026, in two unanimous judgments delivered in appeals filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The EFCC had challenged the July 25, 2023 judgments of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which upheld a no-case submission by Lamido and others and struck out the 43-count amended charge against them. The appellate court had ruled that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.
In its decision, the Supreme Court set aside the Court of Appeal’s judgments and affirmed the earlier ruling of Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which dismissed the no-case submission and ordered the defendants to open their defence.
Delivering the lead judgments, Justice Abubakar Umar held that the prosecution had established a prima facie case warranting the defendants’ response, and that the trial court was right to assume jurisdiction over the matter.
The charges include allegations of money laundering and abuse of office linked to Lamido’s tenure as governor between 2007 and 2015. According to the EFCC, the former governor allegedly converted funds traced to companies awarded contracts by the Jigawa State Government, using accounts linked to Bamaina Holdings and related firms.
Specific counts allege the conversion and retention of funds totalling tens of millions of naira, said to be proceeds of unlawful gratification, as well as the use of false documents to conceal the origin of the funds.
Other defendants in the case include Aminu Wada Abubakar, Bamaina Holdings Limited, Speeds International Limited, and other associated companies.
At the Supreme Court, the EFCC argued that the Court of Appeal erred in law by discharging the defendants despite evidence linking them to the alleged offences. The apex court agreed, paving the way for the continuation of the trial at the Federal High Court.
