The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday delivered a ruling to remand the immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending the hearing and determination of their bail application.
The presiding judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, in his ruling, also ordered the remand of his co-defendants, his son, Abubakar Malami, and one of his wives, Bashir Asabe in Kuje prison.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that Justice Nwite delivered the order to remand Malami in Kuje prison after taking arguments from the defence team led by Joseph Daudu (SAN) and the prosecution counsel Ekele Iheneacho (SAN).
Earlier, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had formally charged Malami and his co-defendants on a 16-count money laundering charge before the court.
The EFCC alleged that the defendants conspired at various times to conceal, retain, and disguise the proceeds of unlawful activities running into several billions of naira.
According to the charge, the alleged offences span several years and include the use of companies and bank accounts to launder funds, the retention of cash as collateral for loans, and the acquisition of high-value properties in Abuja, Kano, and other locations.
The details of the charges include large-scale money laundering and the illegal acquisition of properties worth over N8.7 billion.
The charge, identified as FHC/ABJ/CR/700/2025, accused the defendants of conspiring to conceal, disguise, and retain proceeds from illegal activities.
According to the charge sheets, the EFCC accused the defendants of using multiple bank accounts, corporate entities, and high-value real estate transactions over nearly a decade to indirectly acquire illicit funds.
The charge sheets also claimed that the alleged offences took place between 2015 and 2025, primarily within the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, during Malami’s time as the country’s Attorney-General.
The EFCC claimed that Malami and his son used Metropolitan Auto Tech Limited to hide N1.014 billion in a Sterling Bank account from July 2022 to June 2025. They are also accused of depositing an additional N600.01 million between September 2020 and February 2021.
The properties in question include a luxury duplex on Amazon Street, Maitama, purchased for N500 million; a property on Onitsha Crescent, Garki, bought for N700 million; and another in Jabi District for N850 million. Additional acquisitions include real estate on Rhine Street, Maitama (N430 million); in Asokoro District (N210 million and N325 million); and at Efab Estate, Gwarimpa (N120 million).
The EFCC further alleged that Malami used unlawful proceeds totaling N952 million to acquire multiple properties in Abuja, Kano, and Birnin Kebbi between 2018 and 2023. These acquisitions were allegedly made through proxies and corporate entities to obscure ownership.
However, Malami and other defendants pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to them.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass also reports that the ruling to remand Malami in Kuje prison comes after EFCC uncovered details of properties allegedly procured from the proceeds of corruption.
These properties, spanning across Kebbi, Kano, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), are now at the center of a 16-count money laundering charge filed by the Federal Government against the former minister and his son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami.
According to reports, the anti-graft agency uncovered the N212 billion worth of properties after an investigation into the former AGF’s finances intensified.
