Manny Ita
The Supreme Court of Nigeria has officially dismissed the appeal seeking to reopen the trial of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd) for the 1996 murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, bringing a final legal conclusion to a case that has spanned nearly 30 years. In a unanimous ruling delivered on Thursday, January 22, 2026, a five-member panel of justices led by Justice Uwani Aba-Aji affirmed the discharge and acquittal of the former Chief Security Officer to the late General Sani Abacha, citing “abandonment” and a “gross lack of interest” by the Lagos State Government.
The apex court’s decision followed the persistent failure of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice to file the necessary legal documents or provide representation during scheduled proceedings. Although the Supreme Court had granted the state permission in 2014 to appeal the 2013 Court of Appeal judgment that freed Al-Mustapha, the state failed to file a notice of appeal within the stipulated 30-day window or at any point over the subsequent nine years. Justice Aba-Aji, in the lead judgment, described the delay as “inexcusable,” noting that the state had been served with hearing notices as far back as 2020 but chose to stay away from the court without explanation.
During the hearing, Al-Mustapha’s counsel, Mr. Paul Daudu (SAN), urged the court to strike out the matter, arguing that the appellant’s silence for nearly a decade demonstrated they had no intention of pursuing a retrial. “Not even a notice of appeal was filed by Lagos State as the appellant to demonstrate its seriousness to prosecute the matter, even after nine years,” Daudu stated. The Supreme Court panel agreed, with Justice Aba-Aji holding that “nine years was more than sufficient time for any serious litigant to take the necessary procedural steps to keep an appeal alive.”
The ruling effectively upholds the July 12, 2013, decision of the Court of Appeal, which had overturned a previous death sentence handed to Al-Mustapha and his co-defendant, Lateef Shofolahan, by a Lagos High Court. The appellate court had ruled that the evidence presented by the prosecution was “insufficient, contradictory, and unreliable.” With the dismissal of the state’s final attempts to challenge that acquittal, the legal files on the assassination of the wife of the acclaimed June 12 election winner, Chief M.K.O. Abiola, are now formally closed.
