Court approves N200m bail for Malami, wife, son in EFCC trial

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday granted bail to former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, his wife, and their son in a money laundering case filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission involving about N9 billion.

The three defendants are standing trial before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik over a 16-count charge related to alleged money laundering. The case resumed in court on Friday, where proceedings continued with the presentation of the prosecution’s first witness.

At the start of the hearing, Malami’s lawyer, Joseph Daudu, tried to draw the court’s attention to the bail application earlier filed for the defendants. However, the judge directed that the prosecution should first present its witness before considering any pending applications.

Following the court’s directive, the EFCC presented David Ajoma, a compliance officer with Sterling Bank in Abuja, as its first witness. Ajoma told the court that he has been working with the bank for about three years and is responsible for responding to requests from law enforcement agencies.

The witness explained that on December 2, 2025, the bank received a request from the EFCC asking for documents related to loan facilities granted to Rayham Hotel Limited.

According to him, the bank later sent several documents to the commission, including account opening forms, loan account statements and other related records.

Ajoma also told the court that the loan given to Rayham Hotel Limited was supported by cash collateral provided by Metropolitan Autotech. He explained that both companies operate separate accounts with the bank and that the account belonging to Metropolitan Autotech is managed by a signatory identified as Hassan Aliyu.

During cross-examination, the witness admitted that he was not the relationship manager for either of the accounts and therefore did not have full knowledge of the details behind transactions into the accounts. He also stated that the name of former Attorney-General Malami did not appear on the loan documents presented before the court.

According to the witness, the only name listed on the loan application was Abdulaziz Malami, who signed the document as the managing director of Rayham Hotel Limited.

He further told the court that none of the transactions reviewed by the bank came from any government account, the Federal Ministry of Justice, or from Malami himself.

The compliance officer also informed the court that from the records examined by the bank, there was no transaction that appeared suspicious. He added that the transactions did not violate any rules issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

After the witness finished giving evidence, the defence lawyers asked the court to grant bail to Malami, his wife and their son. The EFCC did not oppose the request but asked the court to attach conditions that would ensure the defendants attend their trial.

Justice Abdulmalik later granted bail to the three defendants in the sum of N200 million each with two sureties in the same amount. The court ordered that one of the sureties must present title documents of a landed property located in Maitama or Asokoro in Abuja.

The judge also directed the defendants to submit their international passports to the court registrar. Until all the bail conditions are met, the court ordered that they remain in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service.

The case was later adjourned to March 16 for the continuation of the trial.