Court sends ex-Gov. Sule Lamido, sons to prison over Alleged N1.35BN Fraud

A Federal court has declared Former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, and his two sons, Aminu and Mustapha, accused of fraud, remanded in prison custody in Kano till September 28.

The former governor was arraigned on Thursday alongside his children for receiving N1.35 billion kickback from a government contractor.

The money was allegedly paid into accounts controlled by the governor and his sons.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is accusing the four suspects of money laundering, amongst other charges.

They were due for arraignment Wednesday, but the court appearance was rescheduled to Thursday (today).

Security was stepped up around the court vicinity in Kano ahead of the hearing Thursday.

Delivering a ruling, Justice Evelyn Anyadike ordered that the four accused persons be remanded in a Kano Prison Custody because the EFCC said they lacked enough facilities to accommodate them.

She rejected the pleas of defence counsel, Effiong Effiong, SAN, that the accused be kept at EFCC custody, saying the commission had complained of inadequate facilities.

Twenty eight-count charge bordering on a number of alleged breach of trust by Sule Lamido, Aminu Sule Lamido, Mustapha Sule Lamido and one Aminu Wada Abubakar, was read in court.

They pleaded not guilty after the charges were read to them.

The case involved N1.351 billion.

The judge ruled that the accused persons be remanded pending the hearing of their bail applications.

Earlier, the defence counsel, Mr. Effiong, had argued that remanding the accused persons in prison would amount to trampling on their fundamental human rights.

He pleaded they be sent to either of EFCC facilities in Abuja or Kano.

However, the counsel to the EFCC, Chile Okoroma, objected to the plea, saying EFCC facilities were full to capacity both in Kano and Abuja.

The case was adjourned to September 28 for ruling on bail applications.

There was pandemonium in court between those supporting Mr. Lamido and those against him, leading the police to fire teargas canisters into the air to disperse the crowd.

Mr. Lamido, his sons and Mr. Abubakar are accused of using their positions to siphon Jigawa State funds.

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EFCC Arrests Ex-Gov Sule Lamido And His Two Sons

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested a former Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, for alleged money laundering related offences.

Investigations revealed that operatives of the anti-graft agency picked up the former governor and his two sons, Mustapha and Aminu, in Abuja on Tuesday.

It was learnt that EFCC detectives flew the suspects to Kano by 2.30pm in preparation for their arraignment in Kano for allerged fraud that amount to billions of naira.
A source in the commission said,
“The former Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, and his two sons, Mustapha and Aminu, were arrested this morning by operatives of the commission.
“They were with us for hours before they were flown to Kano for possible arraignment on Wednesday. They left Abuja Airport around 2.30pm.
“It is most likely that they would be arraigned tomorrow, that I can tell you.”
The EFCC had arrested the two sons of the governor in November 2015 over alleged misappropriation of billions of Naira belonging to the Jigawa State Government.
Operatives of the commission, investigating Lamido and his sons, alleged that billions of state government funds were traced into accounts of companies owned and operated by the governor and his two sons.
Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed the arrest of the former governor and his two sons to our correspondent on the telephone on Wednesday.

He said, “I can confirm to you that the former Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, and his two sons are with the commission.”