The trial of former Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami continued on Monday at the Federal High Court Abuja, where bank officials revealed details of financial transactions involving companies linked to the former minister, his wife, and son.
Malami, alongside his wife Hajia Bashir Asabe Malami and son Abdulaziz Malami, is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 16-count charge of alleged money laundering involving about N8.7 billion.
Testifying as the prosecution’s second witness, Simon Kwayil, a compliance officer with Union Bank of Nigeria, told the court that the bank received a request from the EFCC in December 2025 for documents relating to the account of Meethaq Hotels Limited.
According to him, the bank provided the requested account opening documents, statements of account and compliance certificates to the anti-graft agency on December 23, 2025.
Kwayil said the sole signatory to the account was Hajia Asabe Malami based on the company’s board resolution.
He further told the court that between February 2 and April 3, 2024, transfers totalling about N48 million were made from the company’s account to Abubakar Malami and the law firm A.A. Malami & Co.
The witness added that the account recorded several inflows and outflows, noting that over N99 million was credited into the account between December 2022 and April 2023.
Under cross-examination, he said no deposits into the account came from any government agency and that he was unaware of the purpose of the transactions.
Another witness, Olomotane Egoro, a compliance officer with Access Bank, also testified on documents relating to accounts owned by Agro Allied Limited and Khadimiya for Justice and Development Initiative (KJDI).
Egoro explained that the EFCC requested the documents through letters dated February and March 2026, which were subsequently admitted in evidence despite objections from the defence.
According to the witness, Abdulaziz Malami was the sole signatory to the Agro Allied Limited account.
He said the company obtained a N400 million loan from the bank, which was paid into its account in October 2020 and later fully repaid by July 2022.
The witness also disclosed that part of the loan was transferred to other companies, including New Horizon Ltd and Rayhaan Bustan.
Regarding the KJDI account, Egoro said the signatories included Abdulaziz Malami, Usman Abubakar and Farouk Abubakar.
He added that the account recorded inflows of about N77.9 million between October 2019 and March 2020, while total deposits between March 2020 and January 2025 reached about N1.857 billion.
Like the earlier witness, Egoro told the court that he did not know the purpose of the transactions and confirmed that none of the funds originated from government agencies.
Trial Continues in April
Presiding judge, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, adjourned the case until April 20 for continuation of trial.