The fresh arraignment of former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, at the Federal High Court in Abuja over an alleged N1.3 billion corruption case filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has once again been stalled.
Sule Lamido, alongside his two sons, Aminu Lamido and Mustapha Lamido, who are accused of participating in the alleged fraud through fictitious contract awards, were scheduled to be arraigned on April 1. However, the proceeding did not go ahead despite all defendants being present in court.
It will be recalled that a previous arraignment on March 13 was also aborted due to the absence of the defendants, following the late service of trial notices.
At Wednesday’s hearing, shortly after Sule Lamido and his sons were placed in the dock for their pleas, the EFCC opposed proceeding with a fresh arraignment.
Counsel to the EFCC, Chile Okoroma (SAN), argued that conducting a fresh arraignment would violate an existing Supreme Court directive. He drew the attention of the trial judge, Peter Lifu, to a Supreme Court judgment delivered on January 16, 2026, which mandated that Ijeoma Ojukwu—who initially handled the case from 2015 and had progressed significantly before her transfer to Calabar—should conclude the trial.
Okoroma further disclosed that the EFCC had written to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, John Tsoho, seeking a fiat to bring Justice Ojukwu back to Abuja to continue the case in line with the Supreme Court’s directive.
He urged the court to adjourn the matter pending a response from the Chief Judge, noting that proceeding with a fresh arraignment would be a waste of judicial time. He also reminded the court that the EFCC had already presented 17 witnesses before closing its case, leaving the defence stage.
With no objection from defence counsel, Joe Agi (SAN), Justice Lifu adjourned the case to April 30 to await the Chief Judge’s decision.
The EFCC had originally filed a 27-count charge in 2015 against Sule Lamido, his sons, and their companies—Bamaina Holdings Ltd and Speeds International Ltd—over alleged money laundering involving N1.3 billion, said to have been diverted from state funds during Lamido’s tenure as governor.
According to the anti-graft agency, Sule Lamido allegedly abused his office between 2007 and 2015 by laundering proceeds obtained as kickbacks from government contracts.
After the prosecution closed its case, the defendants filed a no-case submission, arguing that the evidence presented was insufficient to warrant a defence. However, Justice Ojukwu dismissed the application in November 2022 and directed the defendants to open their defence.
Dissatisfied, Sule Lamido appealed the ruling, and in July 2023, the Court of Appeal upheld the no-case submission, ruling 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 subsequently approached the Supreme Court in August 2023 to challenge the appellate court’s decision.
In its judgment delivered on January 16, 2026, a five-member panel of the apex court, led by Abubakar Umar, unanimously overturned the Court of Appeal’s ruling, holding that the defendants had a case to answer.
The Supreme Court then ordered that the matter be returned to the Federal High Court for continuation of trial.
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