A fresh arraignment of former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, at the Federal High Court in Abuja in an alleged N1.3 billion corruption charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has again been aborted.
Lamido, alongside his two sons, Aminu and Mustapha, who allegedly committed the fraud with their father through fictitious contract awards, were to be docked yesterday, but could not hold despite the presence of all the accused persons in court.
The arraignment on 13 March suffered the same fate due to the absence of all the defendants in court, occasioned by the late service of the trial notice on them.
At yesterday’s proceedings, after Lamido and his sons had been put in the dock for their plea to be taken, the EFCC objected to the fresh arraignment of the accused persons.
Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chile Okoroma who appeared for the EFCC, objected to a fresh arraignment on the ground that such would amount to a violation and confrontation of the Supreme Court order.
He drew the attention of Justice Peter Lifu to the judgment of the Supreme Court delivered on 16 January 2026, to the effect that Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, who began the trial in 2015 and had gone halfway before her transfer to the Calabar division of the court, should try the case to conclusion.
Okoroma said the EFCC had written to the Chief Judge of the Court, Justice John Tsoho, for a fiat to bring Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu back from Calabar to Abuja to resume the trial as ordered by the Supreme Court.
He then pleaded with Justice Lifu to adjourn the matter to await the reaction of the Chief Judge, adding that he would not want the time of the court to be wasted on the fresh arraignment.
Following no objection from Chief Joe Agi (SAN), who represented the accused persons, the judge fixed 30 April to await the reaction of the Chief Judge to the EFCC request.
