The Supreme Court on Friday, January 16, 2026 upheld the judgments of the Federal High Court, Kano and that of the Court of Appeal, Kaduna Division which convicted and respectively held that Aminu Sule Lamido, son of former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido should forfeit the sum of $40,000 (Forty Thousand Dollars) undeclared at the Aminu Kano International Airport en route to Egypt.
Lamido was arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on December 11, 201,2 on his way to Cairo, Egypt, having on him the sum of $50, 000 (Fifty Thousand Dollars), which he falsely declared to officers of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, to be just $10,000 (Ten Thousand Dollars).
He was subsequently arraigned before Justice Fatun O. Riman of the Federal High Court, Kano,o on February 4, 20,13 on a one-count charge, bordering on money laundering and false declaration of foreign exchange.
The charge reads: “That you Aminu Sule Lamido, on or about the 11th day of December 2012, at the Aminu Kano International Airport, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable court, while transporting in cash, the sum of $50, 000 (Fifty Thousand United States Dollars, only), from Nigeria to Cairo, Egypt, falsely declared to Nigeria Customs Service, NCS the sum of $10,000 (Ten Thousand United States Dollars, only), instead of the said sum of $50, 000, the sum of (Fifty Thousand United States Dollars, only) as required under Section 12 of the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act Cap F31 of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and Section 2 (3) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 2 (5) Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011.”
He pleaded “not guilty” but was found guilty as charged and convicted of the crime on July 12, 2013, with Justice Riman ordering the forfeiture of the sum to the federal government.
Dissatisfied, he went on appeal on January 5, 2016, at the Court of Appeal, Kaduna Division, presided over by Justices Isaiah Olufemi Akeju, Habeeb Adewale O. Abiru and Oludotun O. Adefope-Okojie. He lost his appeal with the court in the judgment read by Justice Abiru, upholding his conviction and forfeiture of the sum by the Kano Federal High Court.
Lamido proceeded to the Supreme Court in a suit marked SC201/2016. In its judgment on Friday, January 16, 2026, the apex court, while resolving the grounds of appeal in favour of the EFCC, upheld the judgments of both the trial and the appellate court, bringing the matter to a close and setting a judicial precedence in favour of the anti-graft agency in matters of false declaration of funds by air travelers in Nigerian airports.
