The Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja has struck out the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) ₦6 billion money laundering charge against social media personality, Ismaila Mustapha, popularly known as Mompha, and his company, Ismalob Global Investment Limited.
Justice Mojisola Dada, who delivered the ruling on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, held that the EFCC’s decision to prosecute the defendants simultaneously before her court and the Federal High Court amounted to an abuse of court process.
The judge faulted the commission for pursuing related criminal proceedings in two courts, describing the move as forum shopping. She also questioned the inclusion of the eighth count in the charge, saying it appeared to have been introduced to distinguish the Ikeja case from the earlier proceedings at the Federal High Court.
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 of proceeds of crime, failure to disclose assets and possession of documents containing false pretences.
The commission alleged that Mompha, his company and one Ahmadu Mohammed, said to be at large, conspired in 2016 to carry out financial transactions worth ₦5.99 billion to promote unlawful activities, including obtaining money by false pretences.
The defendants pleaded not guilty. During the trial, the prosecution, led by Suleiman Suleiman, called six witnesses and tendered documentary evidence.
The defence, however, challenged the competence of the proceedings, arguing that the EFCC had already filed a related case against the defendants at the Federal High Court in Lagos.
In November 2025, Justice Dada had dismissed the defendants’ no-case submission, ruling that the prosecution had established a prima facie case requiring them to enter their defence. The defendants subsequently challenged that decision at the Court of Appeal.
In her latest ruling, the judge also considered the allegation that Mompha failed to disclose certain recovered assets. She held that there was no intention to conceal the assets, noting that he had disclosed them in an extra-judicial statement made on October 22, 2019, two days after submitting his asset declaration form.
Justice Dada consequently struck out the charge against Mompha and his company.
Separate ₦32.9bn case remains
The ruling does not bring an end to all the EFCC’s cases against Mompha.
A separate money laundering charge remains before the Federal High Court in Lagos, where the commission accused him and his company of using corporate accounts to retain about ₦32.9 billion suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
The case was initially filed in 2019 and later amended.
The EFCC’s allegations against Mompha date back to 2019 and include claims that he laundered funds for cybercrime syndicates and used corporate entities to conceal suspected illicit proceeds.
Mompha has consistently denied the allegations.
The decision of the Lagos State Special Offences Court was based on abuse of court process and does not amount to a determination of the separate allegations pending before the Federal High Court.
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