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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
Former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, and his son, Abubakar Abdul-aziz Malami are to remain in the Kuje Correctional Centre till January 7 when their request for bail will be considered by the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Malami, who served as Justice Minister from November 11, 2015, to May 29, 2023, under former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, faces a 16-count money laundering charge to the tune of N9bn.
He was arraigned before the court last Tuesday alongside his son, Abdulaziz, and Hajia Bashir Asabe, an employee of Rahamaniyya Properties Limited—a firm allegedly used to conceal proceeds of unlawful activity through property deals.
The court, upon the defendants’ plea of innocence, had remanded them in prison custody pending the determination of their bail applications.
At the resumed proceedings on Friday, counsel to the defendants, Joseph Daudu, SAN, prayed the court to release his clients from custody, contending that the allegations against them were bailable.
He assured the court of the defendants’ readiness to stand trial in order to clear their names.
But opposing the application, the prosecution counsel, Mr Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, urged the court to deny the defendants bail.
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Iheanacho said besides posing a flight risk, the former minister has the capacity to influence some of the witnesses who are scheduled to testify against him.
After he had listened to both sides, Justice Nwite adjourned the matter until Wednesday for ruling.
The judge said he had several other matters on the cause list for ruling as a vacation court and will be unable to deliver ruling yesterday.
According to the anti-graft agency, the former Justice Minister, in a bid to hide his proceeds of crime, resorted to acquiring choice properties in various cities and states, including Abuja, Kebbi, and Kano.
EFCC 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.
