WorldStage– Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, on Friday, February 27, 2026, ordered the remand of the former Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, alongside his wife, Hajia Bashir Asabe and their son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami in correctional facilities, pending the determination of their bail applications.
Malami and his son, being the first and third defendants were remanded in the Kuje Correctional Centre, while Asabe, the second defendant was ordered to be remanded in the Suleja Medium Correctional Centre.
Their re-arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, followed the re-assignment of the case from Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja to Justice Abdulmalik.
The threesome is being tried 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 commencement of proceedings, prosecution counsel, Chief J.S. Okutepa, SAN, noted that the matter was coming before Justice Abdulmaik for the first time and sought the leave of the court for the amended charges to be read to the defendants. He drew the court’s attention to corrections made in Counts 11 and 12 regarding the numeric values to tally with the amounts already stated in words in the charge.
Counsel to the defendants, J.B. Daudu, SAN, raised no objection to the amendment but urged the prosecution to formally apply for it.
Justice Abdulmalik granted the prosecution’s request to amend the numeric values in the affected counts to align with the figures in words.
Count one of the charge reads: “That you Abubakar Malami, SAN, and Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami, between July 2022 and June 2025, in Abuja, procured Metropolitan Auto Tech Limited to conceal the unlawful origin of the sum of N1,014,848,500.00 (One Billion, Fourteen Million, Eight Hundred and Forty-Eight Thousand, Five Hundred Naira) in a Sterling Bank Plc account, when they reasonably ought to have known that the sum constituted proceeds of unlawful activities, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 21(c) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and punishable under Section 18(3) of the same Act”.
Count five reads: “That you Abubakar Malami, SAN, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami and Hajia Bashir Asabe, an employee of Rahamaniyya Properties Limited, sometime in September 2024, in Abuja, conspired to disguise the unlawful origin of the aggregate sum of N1,049,173,926.13 (One Billion, Forty-Nine Million, One Hundred and Seventy-Three Thousand, Nine Hundred and Twenty-Six Naira, Thirteen Kobo) paid through the Union Bank Plc account of Meethaq Hotels Limited, Jabi, between November 2022 and September 2024, contrary to Section 21 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and punishable under Sections 18(2)(a) and 18(3) of the same Act”.
Count six reads: “That you Abubakar Malami, SAN, and Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami, between November 2022 and October 2025, indirectly took control of the aggregate sum of N1,362,887,872.96 (One Billion, Three Hundred and Sixty-Two Million, Eight Hundred and Eighty-Seven Thousand, Eight Hundred and Seventy-Two Naira, Ninety-Six Kobo) paid through the Union Bank Plc savings account of Meethaq Hotels Limited, when they reasonably ought to have known that the funds constituted proceeds of unlawful activities, contrary to Section 18(2)(d) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
They all pleaded “not guilty” to the 16-count charges, following which the prosecution counsel asked the court for a trial date and for the defendants to be remanded in the custody of a Correctional Centre.
In response, the defence counsel informed the court that the defendants were on bail, granted by Justice Emeka Nwite when they were first arraigned and that the bail conditions had been perfected.
“My Lord, the defendants were granted bail when they were first arraigned before Justice Nwite and the conditions were perfected. They have not flouted any of the conditions. The Federal High Court is one. We pray that the existing bail should continue,” he said.
While the prosecution counsel in his response conceded that the defendants had earlier been admitted to bail and acknowledged that Federal High Courts are one, he, however, argued that the court had the discretion to either adopt the previous bail terms or require the defendants to satisfy fresh conditions.
“Your lordship has the discretion to either adopt the terms earlier granted or subject them to fresh bail conditions to ensure their attendance in court. The conditions can be transferred to this court since it is the same Federal High Court,” he said.
In her ruling, Justice Abdulmalik held that the previous bail having been terminated by the reassignment of the case, the defendants must therefore file fresh bail applications before the court.
“I am of the view that the earlier bail has been terminated. In that wise, I order that fresh bail applications be filed before this court,” she said.
An oral bail application, made by the defence counsel was rejected by the court and directed that a formal bail application be filed, especially considering the weight of the allegations.
Justice Abdulmalik further directed the prosecution to grant the defence team access to the defendants to enable them prepare for trial and adjourned the matter till March 6, 2026, for the hearing of bail applications and commencement of trial.
