The trial of former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, continued on Monday before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Maitama, Abuja, with prosecution witnesses detailing bank transactions allegedly linked to his family.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Malami, alongside his wife, Asabe Rakiya Bashir, and his son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami, on a 16-count amended charge bordering on conspiracy, concealment and laundering of alleged illicit funds totalling N8.7bn.
At Monday’s hearing, prosecution counsel J.S. Okutepa, SAN, called Daniel Simon Kwayil, a compliance officer with Union Bank of Nigeria, as the second prosecution witness.
Kwayil 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, including account opening records and statements.
The documents were admitted as evidence after the defence counsel, J.B. Daudu, SAN, raised no immediate objection.
While reviewing the account statement, the witness said several transfers were made from Meethaq Hotels Limited to accounts linked to Malami.
According to him, N14m was transferred to Malami on February 5, 2024, while N24m was transferred to him again on March 4, 2024. He also told the court that N24m was transferred on February 3, 2024 to A.A. Malami and Co, while another N12.5m was sent to Malami on May 3, 2024.
Kwayil further testified that Asabe Rakiya Bashir, Malami’s wife, was the sole signatory to the Meethaq Hotels Limited account. He said her identification documents were part of the account opening records.
The witness also listed multiple inflows into the account between 2022 and 2023, including deposits from various companies such as YMB Energy Limited.
Under cross-examination, Kwayil stated that he was not the relationship manager of the account and could not determine the purpose of the transactions.
The prosecution also called Olomotane Egoro, a compliance officer with Access Bank, as the third prosecution witness.
Egoro told the court that the bank provided documents to the EFCC relating to the accounts of Rayhaan Bustan and Agro Allied Nigeria Limited and Khadimiyya for Justice and Development Initiative.
The court admitted the documents as Exhibits C1 and C2 despite objections from the defence, which argued that the witness’s statement had not been made available earlier.
Testifying on the documents, Egoro said Abdulaziz Malami was the sole signatory to the Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited account, which received a N400m loan facility disbursed on October 9, 2020. The loan was later fully repaid on July 14, 2022.
He further stated that several transfers, including multiple N20m payments, were made from the account to New Horizon Limited on November 10, 2020.
On the account of Khadimiyya for Justice and Development Initiative, the witness said it had three signatories and recorded total deposits of N722.9m between October 2019 and December 2023.
He also told the court that the Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited account recorded total deposits of N1.86bn between March 2020 and January 2025.
During cross-examination, Egoro said he was invited to testify through his bank by the EFCC and was not aware of the purpose of the transactions reflected in the account statements.
Following the testimonies, Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the case until April 20, 2026, for continuation of trial.
