Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria — The Federal High Court in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, has scheduled Wednesday, April 1, 2026, for the fresh arraignment of former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido over alleged corruption involving ₦1.35 billion (about $900,000).
The case was brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria’s main anti-corruption law enforcement agency responsible for investigating financial crimes such as fraud and money laundering.
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court fixed the new arraignment date after the former governor and his two sons were absent in court when the matter was called for their plea.
Lamido is expected to be re-arraigned alongside his sons, Aminu Lamido and Mustapha Lamido. Prosecutors allege that the three defendants were involved in a fraudulent scheme connected to the award of fictitious contracts.
According to the EFCC, the alleged offence forms part of a wider corruption case involving ₦1.35 billion in public funds that investigators believe were diverted through a money laundering arrangement. The amount is alleged to have been siphoned from the government of Jigawa State, a state located in northern Nigeria.
The fresh arraignment had initially been scheduled to take place on Friday, but the defendants were not present in court. Their lawyer, Joe Agi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, apologized for their absence and explained that they only received information about the hearing late on Thursday evening.
Agi told the court that the short notice made it difficult for his clients to travel in time.
He said the former governor and his sons live in Kano, a major city in northern Nigeria, and could not reach Abuja because of the distance and the late notification of the hearing.
However, the lawyer representing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Chile Okoroma, also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said he was surprised that the three defendants failed to appear in court despite being served with notice of the trial.
Okoroma also informed the court that the anti-corruption agency had written to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Justice John Tsoho, requesting that the judge who initially handled the case be reassigned to continue the trial.
The EFCC asked that Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, who had previously presided over the matter but was later transferred to Calabar, a city in Cross River State in southern Nigeria, be returned to Abuja to continue hearing the case.
Justice Lifu told the parties that the request contained in the EFCC’s letter was an administrative issue that falls under the authority of the Chief Judge. He therefore declined to rule on the request and instead set Wednesday, April 1, 2026, for the arraignment.
Okay News reports that the corruption case dates back more than a decade. In 2015, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission filed a 27-count charge against Lamido, his two sons, and several companies allegedly linked to them.
The charges accuse the defendants of money laundering involving ₦1.35 billion (about $900,000) that prosecutors claim was illegally diverted from state funds during Lamido’s tenure as governor of Jigawa State in northern Nigeria.
The court proceedings expected on April 1 will mark the next step in determining whether the defendants will formally enter their pleas to the charges.
