The court of Appeal on Tuesday discharged a former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido and his son Mustapha Sule Lamido on all count charges by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The appelate Court delivered judgment on an appeal of no-case submission by Sule Lamido and his son.
According to the lead judgment delivered by Justice Adamu Waziri, the appeal was resolved against the respondent and in favour of the appellant.
“Having resolved them,” he said, “the ruling of the Federal High Court is thereby set aside, struck out.”
He said the federal High Court Abuja was not the territorial jurisdiction where the offence was committed and so did not have jurisdictional competence to hear the matter.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had charged Mr Lamido alongside two of his sons – Aminu Sule Lamido and Mustapha Sule Lamido – and others on money laundering charges involving N712,008,035.
The Federal High Court in Abuja had dismissed the no-case submission filed by Mr Lamido to challenge the 37 counts of money laundering filed against him and his co-defendants.
The Court in Abuja had ruled that Sule Lamido and his co-defendants had a case to answer with regard to the N712 milllion money laundering charges filed against them.
The rest are four companies – Bamaina Company Nigeria Limited, Bamaina Aluminium Limited, Speeds International Limited – and Batholomew Darlignton Agoha.
Ijeoma Ojukwu, the trial judge, had made the pronouncement in a ruling dismissing the no-case submission filed by Mr Lamido.
However, Lamido appealed against the Federal High Court ruling.
The case had lingered for about nine years.
Stay ahead with the latest updates! Join The ConclaveNG on WhatsApp and Telegram for real-time news alerts, breaking stories, and exclusive content delivered straight to your phone. Don’t miss a headline — subscribe now!
