The Supreme Court has dismissed the attempt to reopen the murder case against Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd), former Chief Security Officer to late military ruler, General Sani Abacha.Â
In a unanimous ruling on Thursday, a five-man panel of the apex court led by Justice Uwani Aba-Aji held that the Lagos State Government had abandoned the case by failing to take any steps to prosecute its appeal for over nine years.
The court noted that Lagos neither filed a notice of appeal nor appeared in court, despite being granted permission in 2014 to challenge Al-Mustapha’s acquittal.
At the hearing, Al-Mustapha’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), informed the court that Lagos State had ignored the 30-day deadline issued in 2014 to file its appeal.
He argued that the state’s inaction demonstrated a clear lack of interest in pursuing the case and urged the court to dismiss it entirely.
Justice Aba-Aji agreed, describing the state’s conduct as unacceptable and expressing displeasure over the absence of legal representation and filings from Lagos State.
The court consequently dismissed the appeal marked SC/CR/45/2014, as well as a related case filed by the Lagos State Governor, SC/CR/6/2014.
The Supreme Court ruled that nine years was more than sufficient time for the appellant to act, concluding that the failure to do so amounted to an abandonment of the case.
Kudirat Abiola, wife of the late MKO Abiola, was assassinated in Lagos on June 4, 1996, during the pro-democracy crisis that followed the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
Al-Mustapha was sentenced to death by a Lagos High Court in 2012 but was discharged and acquitted by the Court of Appeal in 2013, a decision Lagos State sought, unsuccessfully, to overturn.
