The Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja has discharged social media celebrity Ismaila Mustapha, popularly known as Mompha, and struck out the alleged N6 billion money-laundering charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Justice Mojisola Dada ruled on Tuesday that because a similar case involving Mompha was already pending before the Federal High Court in Lagos, the prosecution before her court amounted to forum shopping and an abuse of court process. She struck out all eight counts against Mompha and his company, Ismalob Global Investment Limited, and discharged the defendants.
- All eight counts struck out; Mompha and Ismalob Global Investment Limited discharged
- The judge held the Ikeja case duplicated a similar matter pending at the Federal High Court
- The ruling ends the Ikeja proceedings — it is not an acquittal on the merits of the allegations
Why the court struck out the Mompha charge
The EFCC had arraigned Mompha and his company on January 12, 2022, on an eight-count charge bordering on conspiracy to launder proceeds of unlawful activities, retention and laundering of proceeds of criminal conduct, failure to disclose assets and property, possession of documents containing false pretences, and use of property derived from unlawful acts.
The commission alleged that Mompha, his company and one Ahmadu Mohammed — who is still at large — conspired in 2016 to conduct financial transactions worth about N6 billion (put precisely at N5,998,884,653.18 in the charge) to promote unlawful activities, including obtaining money by false pretences.
Mompha pleaded not guilty and was later tried in absentia after he reportedly stopped attending court following the grant of bail. During the trial, EFCC counsel Seleiman Suleiman called six prosecution witnesses and tendered documentary exhibits; the defence called no witness, and the court closed the defence case on April 28 after his counsel failed to produce witnesses.
Mompha reacts to the ruling
Reacting in an Instagram post after the judgment, Mompha described the outcome as the end of a long legal battle, saying the court struck out the entire charge for being an abuse of court process and forum shopping. Reports of his post described him taking a swipe at the anti-graft agency following the decision.
Justice Dada also treated the eighth count as an afterthought introduced to distinguish the Ikeja charge from the earlier proceedings, according to reports of the ruling.
What happens next
Tuesday's decision brings the proceedings before the Lagos State Special Offences Court to an end. It does not, on its own, terminate the separate similar case pending before the Federal High Court in Lagos, which the judge's ruling identified as the subsisting matter — so Mompha's wider legal battle with the EFCC is not necessarily over.
Credit: The Sun and Premium Times reports of November 10, 2026, of the Lagos State Special Offences Court, Ikeja.
Follow @newstweetnaija on Instagram for the day's biggest stories.
