Supreme Court Throws Out Kudirat Abiola Murder Case Against Al-Mustapha

On Thursday, the Supreme Court dismissed the murder case filed by the Lagos State Government against Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (retd), the former Chief Security Officer to the late Head of State, Sani Abacha, over the assassination of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.

Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, wife of the late politician and business magnate MKO Abiola—the presumed winner of the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election—was killed in Lagos on June 4, 1996, amid political unrest following the annulment of her husband’s mandate.

The apex court, in a unanimous ruling delivered by a five-member panel led by Justice Uwani Aba-Aji, held that Lagos State had effectively abandoned its appeal to reopen Al-Mustapha’s trial.

During proceedings, Al-Mustapha’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), informed the court that although Lagos State was granted permission in 2014 to appeal, it had failed to file any notice of appeal or take steps to prosecute the matter. He noted that the state was given 30 days to act but had remained inactive for over nine years, urging the court to dismiss the case due to lack of diligent prosecution.

Justice Aba-Aji confirmed that Lagos State had been duly served with hearing notices but had neither appeared in court nor filed any legal documents. The court concluded that the state had clearly lost interest in pursuing the case, describing its prolonged inaction as inexcusable and an abuse of court process.

Consequently, the appeals marked SC/CR/45/2014 and SC/CR/6/2014 were both dismissed.

Originally, in 2014, the Supreme Court had allowed Lagos State to challenge the July 12, 2013 Court of Appeal judgment, which had acquitted Al-Mustapha of Kudirat Abiola’s murder. The Court of Appeal, in a unanimous decision, held that the prosecution had failed to present sufficient evidence to sustain a conviction, overturning the January 30, 2012 Lagos High Court ruling that had sentenced Al-Mustapha, Mohammed Abacha, and Lateef Shofolahan to death by hanging for conspiracy and murder.

Lagos State had argued that there was enough direct and circumstantial evidence linking Al-Mustapha to the crime. However, Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling effectively ends all efforts by the state to reopen the case.