Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Maitama Division, Abuja, has ordered the remand of former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, his wife, Hajia Bashir Asabe, and their son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami, pending the hearing of fresh bail applications.
Malami and his son were remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre, while Asabe was ordered to be held at the Suleja Medium Correctional Centre.
The three defendants were re-arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on an amended 16-count charge bordering on conspiracy and alleged laundering of N8,713,923,759.49, said to be proceeds of unlawful activities, contrary to the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The matter, initially before Justice Emeka Nwite, was reassigned to Justice Abdulmalik, prompting the fresh arraignment.
At the resumed hearing, prosecution counsel, Chief J.S. Okutepa, SAN, sought the court’s leave to read the amended charges and drew attention to corrections made in Counts 11 and 12 to align numerical figures with amounts written in words. Defence counsel, J.B. Daudu, SAN, did not oppose the amendment but asked that the prosecution formally move the application, which the court granted.
According to the charges, Malami and his son allegedly procured Metropolitan Auto Tech Limited between July 2022 and June 2025 to conceal N1,014,848,500 in a Sterling Bank Plc account, funds the prosecution claims were proceeds of unlawful activities.
Another count alleged that the trio conspired in September 2024 to disguise the origin of N1,049,173,926.13 paid through the Union Bank Plc account of Meethaq Hotels Limited, Jabi, between November 2022 and September 2024.
They were also accused of indirectly taking control of N1,362,887,872.96 paid into the Union Bank Plc savings account of Meethaq Hotels Limited between November 2022 and October 2025.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to all 16 counts.
Following their plea, the prosecution requested a trial date and asked the court to remand the defendants. The defence argued that they had earlier been granted bail by Justice Nwite and had complied with the conditions, urging the court to allow the existing bail to subsist.
However, Justice Abdulmalik held that the earlier bail ceased to have effect following the reassignment of the case and directed the defendants to file fresh bail applications. She rejected an oral bail application by the defence and ordered that a formal application be filed, citing the weight of the allegations.
The court also directed the prosecution to grant defence counsel access to the defendants to enable preparation for trial and adjourned the matter to March 6, 2026, for hearing of bail applications and commencement of trial.
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