Court Orders Remand of Former AGF Abubakar Malami, Wife, Son Over ₦8.7bn Money Laundering Charges
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, on Friday, February 27, 2026, 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, pending the determination of their bail applications.
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Malami and his son, the first and third defendants, were remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre, while Asabe, the second defendant, was ordered to be held at the Suleja Medium Correctional Centre.
The trio were re-arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) following the reassignment of the case from Justice Emeka Nwite to Justice Abdulmalik. They are facing an amended 16-count charge bordering on conspiracy, procuring, disguising, concealing, and laundering proceeds of unlawful activities amounting to ₦8,713,923,759.49, contrary to the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
At the commencement of proceedings, prosecution counsel J.S. Okutepa, SAN, informed the court that the matter was appearing before Justice Abdulmalik for the first time and sought leave for the amended charges to be read to the defendants. He noted corrections in Counts 11 and 12 to align numeric figures with amounts written in words. Defence counsel J.B. Daudu, SAN, raised no objection, and the court granted the amendment.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to all counts. The prosecution requested a trial date and sought their remand, while the defence urged the court to allow the continuation of bail earlier granted by Justice Nwite. Although the prosecution acknowledged the earlier bail, it argued that the court had discretion to adopt or impose fresh conditions.
In her ruling, Justice Abdulmalik held that the previous bail was terminated by the reassignment of the case and directed the defendants to file fresh bail applications. An oral bail application by the defence was rejected, with the court citing the gravity of the allegations. The judge also ordered the prosecution to grant the defence access to the defendants to prepare for trial.
The case was adjourned to March 6, 2026, for the hearing of bail applications and commencement of trial.
Court Orders Remand of Former AGF Abubakar Malami, Wife, Son Over ₦8.7bn Money Laundering Charges