On Thursday, the Supreme Court ended the prolonged murder case involving the late Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, in a unanimous ruling by a five-member panel, rejecting Lagos State Government’s move to reopen the prosecution of retired Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, ruling that the state abandoned its appeal against his acquittal by taking no legal action on the matter for nine years.
Al-Mustapha, who once served as Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late military ruler General Sani Abacha, was prosecuted for the killing of Kudirat Abiola, the wife of the presumed winner of the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election, the late Chief MKO Abiola.
Kudirat was murdered in Lagos on June 4, 1996, amidst nationwide protests opposing the annulment of the June 12 election.
Justice Uwani Abu-Aji, while delivering the lead judgment, criticized the Lagos State Government for its “inexcusable” inability to follow up with the appeal, even after the Supreme Court permitted it in 2014 to revive the case.
At the mention of the case, counsel to Al-Mustapha, Paul Daudu (SAN), informed the court that Lagos State had neither filed a notice of appeal nor taken any action to enforce the order granted more than nine years earlier.
Daudu pointed out that the state had 30 days in 2014 to process its appeal, but did not comply, arguing that this clearly demonstrated a lack of interest in continuing with the case.
He therefore urged the court to strike out the appeal completely on the basis that it had been abandoned.
Justice Aba-Aji verified from the court registrar that Lagos State had been properly served with hearing notices, but neither appeared in court nor provided any explanation for its absence.
In a summary ruling, the court maintained that the nine-year period was more than enough for the appellant to file the necessary documents.
The panel voiced its dissatisfaction that the state government failed to enter an appearance or communicate with the court, even though it had been aware of the proceedings since 2020.
As a result, the appeal, numbered SC/CR/45/2014, was struck out.
A related appeal lodged by the Lagos State Government, identified as SC/CR/6/2014, was likewise dismissed for the same reasons.
In 2014, a seven-man panel headed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, granted Lagos State 30 days' leave to appeal out of time against the July 12, 2013, judgment of the Court of Appeal, which cleared all charges against Al-Mustapha.
The decision came after the state argued that it required additional time to study the case and contest the Court of Appeal’s conclusion that the evidence against Al-Mustapha was inadequate.
Earlier, on January 30, 2012, a Lagos High Court had sentenced Al-Mustapha, Mohammed Abacha, and Lateef Shofolahan to death by hanging for conspiracy and murder.
However, in 2013, the Court of Appeal nullified the convictions, ruling that the evidence presented was weak and unreliable, and hence discharged the accused.
The recent ruling by the Supreme Court has finally brought the trial to an end, discontinuing all attempts to reopen the prosecution nearly 30 years after Kudirat Abiola was murdered.