Former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, on Sunday in Abuja opposed the allegations raised by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission accusing him of duplicating the recovery of the Abacha loot. The EFCC had invited him on November 28 over claims of abuse of office and money laundering linked to the $310 million later valued at $322.5 million with interest, but he said the accusations did not stand after he presented his account.
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Malami noted that the issue centred on the claim that a Swiss lawyer, Enrico Monfrini, had completed the recovery before he took office in 2015. He stated that this was not possible because no funds had been paid into the Federation Account as of 2016, and recoveries are only considered complete after payment is made. He added that Monfrini even asked to be re-engaged in December 2016 for the same task, which he said showed that the work had not been finished earlier.
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He explained that Monfrini’s request came with a demand for a $5 million upfront fee and a success fee of up to 40 per cent, later reduced to 20 per cent. The Buhari government refused the terms and instead hired a Nigerian law firm on a 5 per cent success fee arrangement. Malami said this choice allowed the country to save between 15 and 35 per cent of the recovered funds, an amount he estimated to be between ₦76.8 billion and ₦179.2 billion.
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Malami also said he handled separate recoveries of Abacha loot during his time in office. The first involved $322.5 million from Switzerland between 2017 and 2018, which was channelled into Conditional Cash Transfers under a process monitored by the World Bank. Another tranche of about $321 million from Jersey in 2020 was directed toward major national projects such as the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, the Abuja–Kano Road and the Second Niger Bridge. He stated that mixing up the recoveries or describing them as duplication was incorrect.
He maintained that his role in asset recovery followed the constitutional duties of the Attorney-General and that every action taken was in the interest of the country. He said the claims made against him had no reasonable basis and described the investigation into his actions as driven by politics. He thanked his supporters and expressed confidence that the process would clear his name.
Malami said he was sure the facts would support him and that the allegations would not stand once the investigation was concluded.
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