Former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, SAN, and others have been remanded in prison, even as he denied unlawfully acquiring disputed multi-billion-naira properties.
This followed their arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Nairametrics previously reported that some bank representatives and Bureau de Change (BDC) operators have been lined up as witnesses in the alleged money laundering charges against the ex-AGF and others.
This is according to court documents filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and seen by Nairametrics on Wednesday.
EFCC charge details
In the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/700/2025, the former AGF, Hajia Bashir Asabe, and Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami are accused of contravening provisions of the Money Laundering Act involving sums running into several billions of naira.
Count one of the 16-count charge alleges that Malami and Abdulaziz procured Metropolitan Auto Tech Limited to conceal the unlawful origin of a total sum of N1,014,848,500.00 domiciled in Sterling Bank Plc.
Additionally, count 16 of the charge alleges that the former AGF purchased several properties, including:
- No. 28 Bagudu Kaltio Crescent, Gwarimpa, Abuja;
Plot 13, Ipent 7 Estate, Abuja;
- A plaza comprising commercial toilets, laundry facilities, and warehouse tanks adjacent to Birnin Kebbi Market;
- 100 hectares of land along Birnin Kebbi–Jega Road; and
- Plot 157, Lamido Crescent, Nassarawa Road GRA, Kano.
The above properties, which allegedly represent proceeds of unlawful activity, are valued at N415 million, according to the EFCC.
Specifically, the defendants are accused of procuring and conspiring to launder proceeds of unlawful activity, as well as concealing, disguising, and acquiring such proceeds.
Supporting court documents reveal that the EFCC plans to call about 10 categories of witnesses, including unnamed representatives of Zenith Bank Plc, Sterling Bank Plc, and Bureau de Change operators.
EFCC operatives are also expected to testify on the outcome of investigations that culminated in the filing of the charges.
What transpired in court
At the arraignment proceedings on Tuesday, EFCC counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, said the prosecution had a 16-count charge against the defendants and requested that the charges be read for the defendants to take their plea.
- Malami’s counsel, J.B. Dauda, SAN, did not object to the plea being taken.
- When the court registrar read the charges, the defendants pleaded not guilty to all counts.
- Subsequently, Iheanacho sought a trial date, adding that although the EFCC received the defendants’ application for bail the previous day, he needed “time to respond to the said bail application.”
Responding, Dauda, SAN, told the judge that the charges contained bailable offences which, according to him, were based on alleged unspecified unlawful activities.
- He stressed that the defendants had been on EFCC administrative bail and were not “flight risks.”
- He argued that the defendants, being a family unit, were eventually detained until today’s arraignment, adding that Abubakar Malami is a former high-ranking official of the Nigerian government.
Reacting, Iheanacho stressed that while bail is at the discretion of the court, lawyers must advance their respective submissions through affidavits, not orally.
- He urged the court to hold that the presumption of innocence does not guarantee automatic bail for a high-ranking official who is expected to live above board in the fight against corruption.
- He opposed the oral application for bail, urging the court to adjourn for the EFCC to file a formal response.
Court Ruling
Ruling on the submission, Justice Emeka Nwite held that it would be a breach of EFCC’s right of fair hearing if the court rules on the bail application orally without a formal response filed by the parties.
- The judge adjourned the case to January 2, 2026, for bail application hearing.
- The judge subsequently ordered that the defendants should be remanded at the Kuje Correctional facility pending the determination of the bail application.
What you should know
The development comes weeks after reports emerged that Malami, who served as Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, is under investigation for 18 alleged offences, including money laundering and abuse of office.
Reacting to the development via a press release on Wednesday, the Office of Abubakar Malami, SAN, accused the EFCC of “brazen, contemptuous, and lawless conduct” in its handling of matters concerning Malami.
Nairametrics reports that Malami had previously accused the EFCC and its chairman, Ola Olukoyede, of orchestrating a campaign of intimidation against him.
Malami’s camp alleged that recent EFCC raids on his offices and residences in Abuja and Kebbi State were retaliatory, following his call for Olukoyede’s recusal over alleged bias linked to Chapter 9 of the Justice Ayo Salami Judicial Commission of Inquiry Report.
However, the EFCC has denied the allegations, insisting that it is not acting in a partisan manner.
Malami’s case is part of a broader wave of high-profile investigations involving former public officials who served under the administrations of former Presidents Muhammadu Buhari and Goodluck Jonathan.
Nairametrics recalls that in 2024, the Federal High Court in Abuja discharged a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, from a seven-year-old money laundering suit instituted against him by the EFCC.
Adoke and the Chairman of AA Oil, Aliyu Abubakar, were arraigned on amended 14-count charges bordering on money laundering in suit number FHC/ABJ/CR/39/17. Both defendants pleaded not guilty, and the trial commenced.
After seven years, the EFCC closed its case, and Justice Inyang Ekwo upheld Adoke’s no-case submission, ruling that he had no case to answer.
