A Federal High Court in Abuja has scheduled a hearing for January 2, 2026, to consider bail applications for former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, and two others. Malami, along with his son Abdulaziz and Hajia Bashir Asabe, an employee of Rahamaniyya Properties Limited, faces a 16-count money laundering charge. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alleges that the defendants laundered approximately N9 billion in public funds.
According to the EFCC, Malami acquired properties in various cities, including Abuja, Kebbi, and Kano, to conceal his illicit proceeds. The defendants are also accused of using a firm, Metropolitan Auto Tech Limited, to conceal over N1.01 billion in a bank account between July 2022 and June 2025. Additionally, they allegedly siphoned about N600 million between September 2020 and February 2021 using the same company.
The EFCC further alleges that the defendants retained N600 million as cash collateral for a N500 million loan obtained by Rayhaan Hotels Ltd from a bank, despite knowing that the funds were proceeds of crime. The defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges, which breach several provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011.
The trial judge, Emeka Nwite, rejected an oral bail application and instead allowed the EFCC time to respond to written bail applications. The prosecution opposed the bail applications and requested an accelerated hearing of the case. The judge ordered the defendants to be remanded in Kuje Prison until the hearing on January 2, 2026.
Malami was produced in court from EFCC detention, where he had been held since December 8. He claims that the EFCC arbitrarily revoked an administrative bail granted to him after he attended a political rally in his home state, Kebbi, suggesting that his trial is politically motivated. The case will proceed with the hearing of bail applications in the new year, as the court considers the next steps in the prosecution of the former Justice Minister and his co-defendants.