THE Supreme Court of Nigeria has formally dismissed the attempt to reopen the murder trial of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd), the former Chief Security Officer to late military ruler General Sani Abacha, over the assassination of Hajiya Kudirat Abiola.
News Point Nigeria reports that apex court held that the Lagos State Government abandoned the case after failing for nearly a decade to take any concrete legal steps to prosecute its appeal, despite being granted permission to do so in 2014.
During proceedings, the Supreme Court observed that Lagos State neither filed any legal process nor appeared in court, even though it had been served with hearing notices as far back as 2020.
Counsel to Al-Mustapha, Joseph (Paul) Daudu, SAN, told the court that the state government had completely failed to act on the order granting it leave to reopen the case.
According to Daudu, Lagos State was given 30 days in 2014 to file a notice of appeal after being allowed to challenge the Court of Appeal judgment that discharged and acquitted Al-Mustapha in 2013.
“More than nine years have passed. Lagos State has not filed a notice of appeal, not a brief, not a single document. This clearly shows abandonment,” Daudu argued, urging the court to dismiss the matter entirely.
Presiding Justice Uwani Musa Aba-Aji asked whether Lagos State had been duly served with hearing notices. The Registrar of the Supreme Court confirmed that the state was properly notified.
In a unanimous decision, the apex court ruled that Lagos State had lost interest in the matter and had effectively abandoned the appeal.
Justice Aba-Aji described the state’s conduct as unacceptable, stressing that nine years was more than sufficient to pursue an appeal in a matter of such national importance.
The court expressed displeasure that Lagos State neither appeared through counsel nor provided any explanation for its prolonged inaction.
Consequently, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, bringing a final legal closure to the case.
Another related application filed by the Lagos State Governor in respect of the same matter was also dismissed on identical grounds of abandonment and lack of diligent prosecution.
Hajiya Kudirat Abiola, wife of the late business mogul and politician Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, was killed in Lagos in June 1996 during the nationwide unrest that followed the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, believed to have been won by her husband.
She was a prominent pro-democracy activist and one of the leading voices demanding the validation of the annulled election under military rule.
Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, alongside Mohammed Abacha and Lateef Shofolahan, was arraigned before a Lagos High Court on charges of conspiracy and murder.
In a judgment delivered on January 30, 2012, Justice Moji Dada controversially found the accused guilty and sentenced them to death by hanging.
However, the defendants appealed the verdict.
On July 12, 2013, the Court of Appeal comprising Justices Amina Augie, Rita Pemu and Fatima Akinbami set aside the conviction and discharged and acquitted Mohammed Abacha, Al-Mustapha and all of them, ruling that the evidence presented by the prosecution was insufficient to sustain the death sentence.
In 2014, the Supreme Court, led by then Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria Justice Walter Onnoghen, granted Lagos State permission to appeal out of time and challenge the acquittal.
The court extended the deadline for filing an appeal to January 7, 2014, following Lagos State’s claim that it needed time for legal teams to review the judgment.
Despite securing the court’s approval with Al-Mustapha’s counsel not opposing the application, Lagos State never filed the appeal.
With the Supreme Court’s latest ruling, the legal chapter on Al-Mustapha’s trial in the murder of Kudirat Abiola has now been conclusively closed.