Supreme Court Upholds Forfeiture of $40,000 Undeclared Cash
The Supreme Court on Friday, January 16, 2026, upheld the judgments of the Federal High Court, Kano, and the Court of Appeal, Kaduna Division, affirming the conviction of Aminu Sule Lamido, son of former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, and ordering the forfeiture of $40,000 to the Federal Government.
Aminu Lamido was arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on December 11, 2012, at the Aminu Kano International Airport while en route to Cairo, Egypt. He was found to be in possession of $50,000 but falsely declared only $10,000 to officers of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
He was arraigned before Justice Fatun O. Riman of the Federal High Court, Kano, on February 4, 2013, on a one-count charge of money laundering and false declaration of foreign exchange, contrary to the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act and the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act.
Despite pleading not guilty, Lamido was convicted on July 12, 2013, with the court ordering the forfeiture of the undeclared sum to the Federal Government. His appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal, Kaduna Division, on January 5, 2016, which upheld both the conviction and the forfeiture order.
In its final judgment delivered on Friday, the Supreme Court, in suit number SC201/2016, resolved all issues in favour of the EFCC, affirming the decisions of the lower courts and bringing the long-running case to an end. The apex court’s ruling further reinforces judicial support for strict enforcement of laws against false declaration of funds by air travellers in Nigeria.
