By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
The Supreme Court has upheld the decisions of the lower courts which ruled that the sum of $40,000 be forfeited to the Federal Government.
The amount was undeclared by Aminu Sule Lamido, son of former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, while preparing to travel to Cairo, Egypt, in December 2012.
While ruling on the suit on Friday, January 16, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Inyang Okoro, held that the appeal lacked merit, affirming the forfeiture decisions of the lower courts.
In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Adamu Jauro and read by Justice Abubakar Sadiq Umar, the court said the appeal was “doomed to fail” and formally upheld the forfeiture of the funds to the Federal Government.
Aminu Lamido had filed an appeal to challenge the decision of the trial court, which convicted him of failing to declare $40,000 en-route Cairo.
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arrested Aminu at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport after he had declared $10,000 to the Nigeria Customs Service but was found in possession of $50,000.
He was arraigned on February 4, 2013, before the Federal High Court in Kano on a one-count charge of false declaration of foreign currency under the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act and related laws.
On July 12, 2015, the trial court convicted him and ordered that 25 percent of the undeclared cash be forfeited to the Federal Government.
The judgment was also upheld by the Court of Appeal in Kaduna on December 7, 2015.
Dissatisfied, Aminu Lamido appealed to the Supreme Court, seeking to nullify the decisions of the lower courts. At the last hearing, counsel for both sides adopted their written briefs, after which the apex court reserved judgment.
In Friday’s ruling, the Supreme Court held that the appeal lacked merit on all grounds, and upheld the forfeiture order.
The court further affirmed that both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal properly evaluated the evidence and delivered judgments in line with the law.
