Court remands Malami, family in alleged N8.7bn money laundering case
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, on Friday, ordered the remand of former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, alongside his wife, Hajia Bashir Asabe, and their son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami, in correctional facilities pending the determination of their bail applications.
Malami and his son, the first and third defendants, were remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre, while Asabe, the second defendant, was remanded at the Suleja Medium Correctional Centre. The trio’s re-arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) followed the reassignment of the case from Justice Emeka Nwite to Justice Abdulmalik.
The defendants face a 16-count charge of conspiracy, procuring, disguising, concealing, and laundering proceeds of unlawful activities totalling N8,713,923,759.49, contrary to the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
At the hearing, prosecution counsel Chief J.S. Okutepa, SAN, sought leave to read amended charges to the defendants, correcting numeric discrepancies in Counts 11 and 12 to align with the amounts stated in words. Defence counsel J.B. Daudu, SAN, raised no objection but requested a formal application for the amendment, which the court granted.
Among the charges, Count one alleges that Malami and his son procured Metropolitan Auto Tech Limited to conceal N1,014,848,500 in a Sterling Bank account between July 2022 and June 2025. Count five claims the trio conspired to disguise N1,049,173,926.13 paid through the Union Bank account of Meethaq Hotels Limited, while Count six alleges that Malami and his son indirectly took control of N1,362,887,872.96 in the same account.
The defendants pleaded “not guilty” to all 16 counts. The prosecution requested that the court remand them and fix a trial date. The defence argued that the defendants had already been granted bail by Justice Nwite, and the conditions were fully complied with.
Justice Abdulmalik ruled that the previous bail was terminated due to the reassignment of the case and directed that fresh bail applications be filed. An oral bail request was rejected, and the court ordered the prosecution to grant the defence access to the defendants to prepare for trial.
The matter was adjourned to March 6, 2026, for the hearing of bail applications and commencement of trial. The EFCC is prosecuting the case.
