WorldStage– The trial of Nigeria’s former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, alongside his wife, Asabe Rakiya Bashir, and his son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami, continued on Monday, March 16, 2026, before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is prosecuting the defendants on an amended 16-count charge bordering on conspiracy, procuring, disguising, concealing and laundering proceeds of unlawful activities to the tune of N8,713,923,759.49 (Eight Billion, Seven Hundred and Thirteen Million, Nine Hundred and Twenty-Three Thousand, Seven Hundred and Fifty-Nine Naira, Forty-Nine Kobo), contrary to the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
At the resumed hearing of the matter on Monday, prosecution counsel, J.S. Okutepa, SAN, presented Daniel Simon Kwayil, a compliance officer with Union Bank as Prosecution Witness Two (PW2).
After taking his oath, Kwayil told the court that the bank received a letter from the EFCC in 2025 requesting documents relating to Meethaq Hotels Limited, including a forwarding letter, certificate of compliance, account opening package and statement of account of the company with account number 0179011105.
When asked if he could recognise the documents, the witness confirmed that he could identify them, adding that the letter was dated December 23, 2025, on a Union Bank letterhead.
Okutepa then sought to tender the documents as evidence.
Responding, defence counsel J.B. Daudu, SAN, said he had no objection for the time being but reserved the right to raise one if necessary.
Justice Abdulmalik subsequently admitted the documents in evidence and marked them as Exhibit B series.
Led further in evidence, the witness was asked to refer to page 37 of the statement of account.
According to him, on February 5, 2024, there was a payment of N14 million by instant transfer to Abubakar Malami on the order of Meethaq Hotels Limited.
He further stated that on March 4, 2024, there was another transfer of N24 million in favour of Abubakar Malami from Meethaq Hotels Limited.
The witness added that on February 3, 2024, another N24 million was transferred to A.A. Malami and Co on the order of Meethaq Hotels Limited.
Kwayil also told the court that on May 3, 2024, as reflected on page 38, there was a transfer of N12,500,000 in favour of A.A. Malami.
When asked who the signatory to the account of Meethaq Hotels Limited was, the witness replied:
“The sole signatory to Meethaq Hotels Limited is Asabe Rakiya Bashir.” He identified the second defendant, Asabe Rakiya Bashir, in the dock and told the court that her identification card appeared on pages 11 and 12 of the account opening documents.
He also noted that the board resolution on page 10 made her the sole signatory to the account.
Further testifying, Kwayil said the statement of account of Meethaq Hotels Limited spanned pages 34 to 41, showing both inflows and outflows.
According to him, on November 3, 2022, the account received two deposits of N1,745,242.73 and N21,202,209.36.
He said on November 8, 2022, the account received N685,200.00 and N685,400.
The witness added that on November 18, 2022, the account received N1,047,019.55.
He further told the court that on November 28, 2022, the account received N10 million twice from YMB Energy Limited.
Continuing, he said on December 2, 2022, the account received N4,565,320.58, while on December 5, 2022, it received N4,828,880.56.
Kwayil also stated that on December 20, 2022, there was an inflow of N1,83,686.44 into the account.
According to him, on January 10, 2023, the account received N43,177,453.94, and another N4,650,781.50 on the same day.
He added that on January 17, 2023, the account received N915,540.84, while on February 12, 2023, it received N25,483,054.24, all transfers from Meethaq Hotels Limited.
The witness further stated that on March 3, 2025, there was an inflow of N11,166,235.10 from Meethaq Hotels Limited.
He added that on March 14, 2023, the account received N118,814.64.
According to him, on April 3, 2023, another inflow of N13,388,808.38 was recorded from Meethaq Limited account II, while on April 14, 2023, the account received N158,066.73.
Under cross-examination by J.B. Daudu, SAN, the witness told the court that he joined Union Bank in August 2014.
He confirmed that he was not the relationship manager of the Meethaq Hotels account, adding that his office had supervisory responsibilities covering Abuja, Niger and Nasarawa.
Asked how he got to know the second defendant, he said he met her at the Maitama branch where the account was opened, but could not remember the exact date.
He also stated that he requested to see her physically to confirm whether she was the person on the identification card.
When asked if he knew A.A. Malami and Co, the witness, said he knew it belonged to the former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
Asked whether the transactions were commercial in nature, he responded:
“I don’t know because I’m not a party and I don’t know the purpose of the transaction.”
With no re-examination, the witness was discharged.
The prosecution then called Olomotane Egoro, a compliance officer with Access Bank, as Prosecution Witness Three (PW3).
Egoro told the court that in 2025, the bank received a request from the EFCC for documents relating to Rayhaan Bustan and Agro Allied Nigeria Limited with account number 1383843226, and Khadimiyya for Justice and Development Initiative with account number 0828310158.
He said the documents included forwarding letters, certificates of identification, account opening documents, loan offer letter, memorandum of acceptance and statements of account.
According to him, the correspondences were dated February 6 and February 9, 2026.
When the prosecution sought to tender the documents, Daudu objected, arguing that he had not seen the witness’s statement and needed to confirm whether he was testifying on subpoena.
Okutepa, however, drew the court’s attention to the list of witnesses attached to the charge, noting that representatives from several banks, including Access Bank, GTBank and Sterling Bank, were listed.
He cited Section 378 (1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) in support of the prosecution’s position.
In her ruling, Justice Abdulmalik held that since the witness’s bank was listed among those expected to testify, the defence could cross-examine him and request time to study his testimony if necessary.
Daudu subsequently reserved his objection.
The court thereafter admitted the documents in evidence and marked them as Exhibits C1 and C2.
Testifying on Exhibit C1, the witness said Rayhaan Bustan and Agro Allied Nigeria Limited had a sole signatory, Abdulaziz Malami, which was reflected in the loan offer documents.
He added that the loan offer of N400 million was contained in pages 4 to 4E, including the acceptance letter.
Egoro told the court that the loan was disbursed on October 9, 2020, into the account of Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited and was fully repaid on July 14, 2022.
He further testified that on November 10, 2020, N100 million was transferred from the account to New Horizon Limited.
He added that on the same date, N10,575,360 was also transferred to the same company.
According to him, there were additional transfers of N20 million, N20 million, N20 million, N20 million, and N20 million to New Horizon Limited on the same day.
The witness also said that on October 9, 2020, the account received N400 million, being the principal disbursement under the loan facility.
He added that on the same day, there was a debit of N4 million as management fee and N300,000 as VAT.
He further stated that on November 10, 2020, there was a debit of N1,185,792.35 as main interest liquidation.
Testifying on Exhibit C2, relating to Khadimiyya for Justice and Development Initiative, the witness said the signatories to the account were Abdulkadir Malami, Usman Gotomo Abubakar and Faruku Abubakar.
He said the first inflow into the account occurred on October 17, 2019, when N500,000 was paid by Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami.
He added that another N500,000 was paid by the same person on October 23, 2019.
According to him, on October 28, 2019, the account received N1,720,00.
He further told the court that on October 29, 2019, Musa Yamilu Galadanci paid N1,500,000, while on October 30, 2019, Chimugu Surajo paid N1,200,000.
The witness said that on October 4, 2019, the account received N8 million from Afuwa Services Limited.
He added that on November 5, 2019, A.A. Funtua FX Limited paid N1 million, while on November 6, 2019, there was a cash deposit of N2 million by Faruku Madugu Gwandu.
He also stated that on November 27, 2019, N500 thousand was deposited by Aliyu Gwandu, while on November 28, 2019, Halliru Bala paid N2,500,000.
Egoro told the court that on January 29, 2020, Afuwa Integrated Services Limited paid N10 million, while on January 23, 2020, the same company paid N5 million and another N10 million.
He added that on February 18, 2020, Afuwa Integrated Services Limited paid N1,800,750, while Abdulhamid Ibrahim Ismail paid N5,250,000 on the same day.
According to him, on February 28, 2020, Moriks Global Enterprise paid N2 million, while Abdulshakur Abdulhamid paid N1,500,000 on March 3, 2020.
The witness stated that the total lodgment into the Khadimiyya for Justice and Development Initiative account between October 17, 2019 and December 31, 2023 was N722,986,603.75.
He also told the court that the total lodgment into the Rayhaan Bustan and Agro Allied Limited account between March 26, 2020 and January 31, 2025 was N1,857,978,100.
Under cross-examination, Daudu asked how the witness came to testify in court.
Egoro responded that the EFCC invited him through his bank and not through a subpoena.
Asked whether he was a staff of the EFCC, he said no, adding that he did not know the purpose of the payments reflected in the account statements.
With no re-examination from the prosecution, Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the matter till April 20, 2026 for continuation of trial.
