Money Laundering Charge: Ex-AGF Malami, son, wife secure N600m bail

2026-03-06 - 14:47

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri ABUJA– The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday granted bail to the immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, who is facing a money laundering charge alongside his son and wife. The defendants were alleged to have laundered public funds totalling about N9billion. The court, in a ruling delivered by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, granted them bail in the sum of N200 million each, with two sureties in like sum. It will be recalled that the court had, on February 27, remanded the former AGF, his son, Abdulaziz, and one of his wives, Hajia Bashir Asabe, in prison custody after they were re-arraigned on a 16-count charge which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) preferred against them. The remand order followed Justice Abdulmalik’s refusal to adopt the bail conditions that were earlier granted to the defendants on January 7. The defence lawyer, Mr. Joseph Daudu, SAN, after the defendants had pleaded not guilty to the charge, drew the court’s attention to the bail conditions given by Justice Emeka Nwite, who initially presided over the case as a vacation judge. On his part, counsel to the EFCC, Mr. Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, who confirmed that the defendants had earlier perfected all the bail conditions, argued that with the re-arraignment, the court reserved the discretionary powers to determine whether they should be allowed to continue to enjoy their bail or not. Having listened to both sides, Justice Abdulmalik held that the case had started de novo (afresh) before her, stressing that proceedings before Justice Nwite had legally terminated. She therefore ordered the defendants to file a fresh bail application, which had been granted on Friday. As part of the bail conditions, the court ordered that one of the sureties must provide title documents of a property located in either Maitama or Asokoro districts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja. Besides, it ordered the defendants to surrender their international passports and not travel outside the country without permission. Justice Abdulmalik held that the defendants should remain in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions. The court initially granted the defendants bail in the sum of N500m each with two sureties each in the like sum. The EFCC had alleged that Malami who served as Justice Minister from November 11, 2015, to May 29, 2023, under former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, had in a bid to hide his proceeds of crime, resorted to acquiring choice properties in various cities and states, including Abuja, Kebbi, and Kano. It told the court that the defendants had between July 2022 and June 2025, used a firm- Metropolitan Auto Tech Limited- to conceal over N1.01bn in a Sterling Bank account. They were further accused of using the same company to siphon about N600million between September 2020 and February 2021. Likewise, EFCC told the court that the defendants had retained N600m in March 2021 as cash collateral for a N500m loan that the firm—Rayhaan Hotels Ltd—obtained from Sterling Bank, despite allegedly knowing that the funds were proceeds of crime. The defendants were said to have acted in breach of several provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011. Among those billed to testify against them were investigators, bank officials, real estate agents, as well as Bureau de Change operators. The embattled former AGF is also facing a five-count charge of terrorism financing and illegal possession of firearms , the Department of State Services (DSS) filed against him and his son. Malami was arrested and detained by the DSS after he perfected all the bail conditions in the case the EFCC entered against him and was released from prison custody. Meanwhile, the EFCC opened its case against the defendants on Friday as it produced its first witness, a Compliance Officer with Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. David Ojoma, to testify before the court. In his evidence-in-chief, the witness tendered a 214-page set of transaction documents that showed inflows and outflows from accounts operated by the two companies, Rayhan Hotels and Metropolitan Autotech Limited, with the bank. The witness narrated how a series of payments involving millions of naira were made into the companies’ bank accounts by corporate bodies and individuals at different times. He named Malami’s son, Abdulaziz, as the sole signatory to the Rayhan Hotels account, while one Aliyu Mohammed was identified as the signatory to the account operated by Metropolitan Autotech Limited. The witness told the court that he did not know the purpose of several payments made into the accounts by those who made them. Justice Abdulmalik slated March 16 for continuation of the hearing in the case.