The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed an appeal by Aminu Sule Lamido, son of former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido, seeking to overturn previous judgments ordering the forfeiture of $40,000 to the Federal Government.

A five-member panel led by Justice John Inyang Okoro ruled that the appeal lacked merit and upheld the decisions of the lower courts.

The case stems from Aminu’s 2024 conviction for failing to declare $40,000 in cash while traveling to Egypt via Kano’s Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had charged him with failure and false declaration of foreign currency.

According to EFCC, Aminu initially declared the statutory $10,000 but did not declare the remaining $40,000 on the Customs Currency Declaration Form. He was arrested on December 11, 2012, and arraigned before the Federal High Court in Kano. On July 12, 2015, the court convicted him and ordered the forfeiture of 25 percent of the undeclared funds.

Dissatisfied with the judgment, Aminu appealed to the Court of Appeal in Kaduna, which, on December 7, 2015, dismissed the appeal and upheld the lower court’s decision.

He subsequently approached the Supreme Court to nullify both lower court judgments. However, in a unanimous ruling delivered by Justice Adamu Jauro and read by Justice Abubakar Umar, the apex court affirmed the prior rulings, stating the appeal was “doomed to fail.”

The EFCC was represented throughout the legal proceedings by DCE Sa’ad Hanafi, now Acting Zonal Director of the Commission’s Benin Directorate. Aminu was represented by Chief O.E.B. Offiong, SAN.

At the last hearing before the Supreme Court, both parties adopted their briefs of arguments, and the court reserved judgment until Friday, January 16, 2026, when it delivered its final decision.

The ruling concludes a long-running legal battle over the undeclared foreign funds, reinforcing the enforcement of Nigeria’s currency declaration laws.