The Supreme Court has dismissed the long-running attempt by the Lagos State Government to reopen the murder case against Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (retd), former Chief Security Officer to the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, over the assassination of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.
In a unanimous decision delivered on Thursday by a five-member panel led by Justice Uwani Aba-Aji, the apex court held that Lagos State abandoned its appeal and showed no interest in prosecuting the matter for over nine years.
Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, wife of the late business mogul and politician, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, was assassinated in Lagos on June 4, 1996, amid political unrest following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, which MKO Abiola was widely believed to have won.
When the appeal was called, Al-Mustapha’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), informed the court that although Lagos State was granted leave in 2014 to reopen the case, it failed to file a notice of appeal or take any steps to prosecute the matter within the stipulated 30 days or at any time thereafter.
Daudu argued that the state’s inaction for more than nine years amounted to a lack of diligent prosecution and urged the court to dismiss the appeal.
Justice Aba-Aji confirmed that Lagos State was duly served with hearing notices but neither appeared in court nor filed any legal processes. The court described the state’s conduct as inexcusable and an abuse of court process, noting that nine years was more than enough time to comply with its earlier directive.
Consequently, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal marked SC/CR/45/2014 for want of diligent prosecution. A related appeal filed by the Lagos State Government, marked SC/CR/6/2014, was also struck out on the same grounds.
The ruling effectively brings to an end all efforts by Lagos State to revive the case.
In 2014, the Supreme Court had granted Lagos permission to challenge the July 12, 2013 judgment of the Court of Appeal, which discharged and acquitted Al-Mustapha of Kudirat Abiola’s murder. The Court of Appeal, in a unanimous decision delivered by Justices Amina Augie, Rita Pemu and Fatimo Akinbami, held that the prosecution failed to establish sufficient evidence to sustain the conviction.
That judgment overturned the January 30, 2012 decision of a Lagos High Court presided over by Justice Mojisola Dada, which had sentenced Al-Mustapha, Mohammed Abacha and Lateef Shofolahan to death by hanging for conspiracy and murder.
Lagos State had argued that there was sufficient direct and circumstantial evidence linking Al-Mustapha to the killing and sought the reinstatement of the death sentence. However, Thursday’s ruling has finally closed leaving the acquittal intact.
