Abubakar Malami, a former Attorney‑General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, has rejected the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) allegations of money laundering and abuse of office. He described the accusations as “baseless, illogical, and wholly devoid of substance.” The controversy centers on the recovery of the Abacha loot—initially $310 million, later $322.5 million with interest.
Malami’s media aide, Mohammed Doka, issued a statement detailing the former attorney general’s recent visit to anti‑graft agencies. During the meeting, the EFCC told Malami that its inquiry concerned an alleged duplication in the recovery process of the Abacha assets. The commission claimed that Malami had duplicated a recovery already completed by Swiss lawyer Enrico Monfrini before Malami took office in 2015. Malami countered that no such recovery had been finalized before his tenure; funds are only deemed recovered once they are lodged in the Federation Account, and no such lodgement had occurred by 2016. Moreover, Monfrini applied in December 2016 to be re‑engaged for the same recovery, which Malami argued disproves the claim of prior completion.
Malami also disclosed that the late President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration rejected Monfrini’s terms, which required a $5 million upfront deposit and a success fee of 40 percent (later reduced to 20 percent). Instead, a Nigerian law firm was hired on a 5 percent success‑fee basis, saving the country between 15 and 35 percent of the recovered funds. He clarified that he oversaw multiple, distinct tranches of the Abacha loot, including $322.5 million from Switzerland and about $321 million from Jersey, and warned that conflating these recoveries or portraying a lawful, cost‑saving process as duplication is misleading.
Malami maintained that his actions were “strictly in the public interest” and that any suggestion of abuse of office or money laundering lacks reasonable grounds for suspicion. The EFCC’s allegations form part of its broader effort to investigate and prosecute corruption and financial crimes in Nigeria. The outcome of the investigation and any subsequent legal proceedings will be closely watched, given their potential impact on the country’s anti‑corruption drive and rule of law. Despite the accusations, Malami remains confident that truth and law will ultimately prevail.
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