The trial of former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, and his two sons, Aminu and Mustapha Lamido, over an alleged N1.35 billion money laundering case suffered another setback on Tuesday as proceedings at the Federal High Court in Abuja were stalled following the absence of the lead defence counsel, Joe Agi (SAN).
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting the trio on a 37-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering, kickbacks and fictitious contract awards said to have been committed while Lamido served as governor between 2007 and 2015.
At the resumed hearing before Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, defence counsel O.F. Ekegba told the court that the lead counsel had travelled to Germany to meet with a witness and had taken the case file along, assuring the court that the defence would conclude its case within two to three days if granted a September date.
Although the prosecution, led by Chile Okoroma (SAN), said it was only served with the affidavit explaining the absence in court, he did not oppose the request for adjournment after the defence’s undertaking.
Justice Ojukwu subsequently adjourned the matter to a date in September 2026 to be communicated to all parties for continuation of trial.
