A combined photo of Sule Lamido and his son, Aminu Sule Lamido
By Abdullahi Abubakar
The Supreme Court of Nigeria has dismissed the appeal filed by Aminu Sule Lamido, son of former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido, challenging his conviction for failing to declare $40,000 in cash and making a false declaration of foreign currency while departing the country.
In a unanimous judgment delivered on Friday, January 16, 2026, a five-member panel of the apex court resolved all issues against the appellant, affirming the decisions of both the Court of Appeal sitting in Kaduna and the Federal High Court in Kano, which had earlier found him guilty.
The Supreme Court held that Aminu Lamido’s appeal lacked merit, stating that the lower courts properly evaluated the evidence presented by the prosecution and correctly applied the law in arriving at their conclusions.
Aminu was arrested on December 11, 2012, by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport while attempting to board a flight to Cairo, Egypt.
According to the prosecution, Aminu had declared $10,000 to officials of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) as required by law.
However, further checks revealed that he was in possession of an additional $40,000, which he failed to disclose on the currency declaration form.
Following his arrest, the EFCC charged Aminu before the Federal High Court sitting in Kano on a one-count charge of false declaration of foreign currency, an offence contrary to the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.
In a judgment delivered on July 12, 2015, the Federal High Court convicted Aminu and ordered the forfeiture of 25 percent of the undeclared sum to the Federal Government.
Dissatisfied with the verdict, Aminu approached the Court of Appeal in Kaduna, urging the court to overturn his conviction and set aside the forfeiture order.
However, in its judgment delivered on December 7, 2015, the appellate court dismissed his appeal in its entirety and upheld the decision of the trial court, resolving all issues raised against him.
Still aggrieved by the outcome, Aminu proceeded to the Supreme Court, asking the apex court to nullify the judgments of the two lower courts and quash his conviction.
However, in a unanimous judgment delivered on Friday, a panel of the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and affirmed the decisions of both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, effectively bringing the long-running legal battle to an end.
