Ex-AGF Malami, Son, Wife To Spend New Year’s Day In Prison As Court Postpones Bail Hearing

The judge issued the remand order against Mr Malami, his son, and wife after the EFCC arraigned the three of them jointly on money laundering charges on Tuesday.

The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the remand of former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, his wife and son at the Kuje Correctional Centre, pending the hearing of their bail applications.

Judge Emeka Nwite fixed 2 January 2026 for the hearing of their bail applications, which imply that they will spend the New Year’s Day in prison.

Mr Nwite issued the remand order after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned the three of them jointly on money laundering charges on Tuesday.

In the 16 counts brought against them, the EFCC accused them of illegitimate acquisition and concealment of the origins of multi-billion-naira worth of assets, including a university and hotel, mall, and residential houses, among others, in Abuja, Kano and Kebbi.

Already, EFCC has traced N200 billion worth of assets to Mr Malami in the three locations.

Mr Malami, his son, Abdulaziz Malami; and his wife, Asabe Bashir, also described an employee of a firm linked to the former minister, Rahamaniyya Properties Ltd, all pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Thereafter, the defence lawyers attempted to present their clients’ bail applications, a move the EFCC opposed on grounds that the prosecution needed time to file a written response to the bail request.

The defence urged the judge to take oral arguments from lawyers and dispense with the written bail applications already filed on behalf of the defendants.

But the judge, in turning down the option of oral arguments, said the “bail application had only been served on the prosecution a day earlier and allowing an oral application at that stage would amount to an ambush.”

The judge stressed that “the interest of justice will be met” by allowing the prosecution adequate time to respond to the written bail application.

He therefore adjourned 2 January 2026 for hearing of the bail application.

Mr Malami attended Tuesday’s proceedings from EFCC custody, where he had been detained since 8 December.

He had made unsuccessful efforts to secure pre-trial bail and release from custody until Tuesday’s arraignment.

On 23 December, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja granted him bail in the same conditions earlier set by the EFCC.

But both the EFCC and Mr Malami disagreed over what the conditions were. Mr Malami maintained that he already met the bail conditions before the bail was revoked. But the EFCC denied ever revoking the bail and maintained that the former minister had yet to fulfil the bail conditions to be released from pre-trial detention.

The charges against him and his co-defendants included suspicious accumulation and frantic efforts to conceal the alleged illicit origins of multi-billion naira worth of assets in Abuja, Kano and Kebbi.

EFCC alleged in the charges that the defendants carried out various suspicious transactions and attempted to conceal the unlawful origins of billions of naira through bank accounts and property acquisitions across Abuja, Kano and Kebbi.

EFCC said many of the offences violated the Money Laundering (Prohibition and Prevention) Acts of 2011 (as amended) and 2022.

They allegedly committed the offences between 2015 and 2025, a period that includes the eight years Mr Malami served as the AGF during the late former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Source: PREMIUM TIMES