Supreme Court Upholds Forfeiture of $40,000 Undeclared Cash Linked to Aminu Sule Lamido

The Supreme Court on Friday, January 16, 2026, affirmed the forfeiture of $40,000 undeclared cash to the Federal Government by Aminu Sule Lamido, son of former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido.

The apex court upheld the earlier judgments of the Federal High Court, Kano, and the Court of Appeal, Kaduna Division, which had convicted Lamido over false declaration of foreign currency at the Aminu Kano International Airport while en route to Cairo, Egypt.

Lamido was arrested on December 11, 2012, by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) after he was found in possession of $50,000, but declared only $10,000 to officers of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

He was subsequently arraigned on February 4, 2013, before Justice Fatun O. Riman of the Federal High Court, Kano, on a one-count charge of money laundering and false declaration of foreign exchange.

In the charge, the prosecution stated that Lamido “falsely declared to the Nigeria Customs Service the sum of $10,000 instead of the actual sum of $50,000, contrary to the provisions of the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act and the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.”

Although Lamido pleaded not guilty, the trial court found him guilty on July 12, 2013, and ordered the forfeiture of $40,000 to the Federal Government.

Justice Riman held that the offence was proven beyond reasonable doubt, ruling that “the defendant deliberately made a false declaration in violation of extant laws regulating foreign exchange transactions.”

Lamido’s appeal was dismissed on January 5, 2016, by the Court of Appeal, Kaduna Division, in a unanimous decision delivered by Justice Habeeb Adewale Abiru, who upheld both the conviction and the forfeiture order.

Still dissatisfied, Lamido approached the Supreme Court in suit SC/201/2016. In its final judgment, the apex court resolved all issues in favour of the EFCC, affirming the decisions of the lower courts.

The Supreme Court held that “the appellant failed to dislodge the concurrent findings of fact by the two lower courts,” adding that the forfeiture order was lawful and justified under existing anti-money laundering laws.

The judgment brings the long-running case to a close and is seen as a judicial precedent reinforcing the powers of anti-graft agencies in cases of false declaration of funds by air travellers in Nigerian airports.