The Federal High Court in
Abuja has granted bail to former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and
Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, his wife, Asabe Bashir, and son,
Abdulaziz Malami.
Judge Emeka Nwite on Wednesday granted each of them bail in the
sum of N500 million in the alleged N8.7 billion money laundering case filed
against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The judge noted that the key
consideration in granting bail is whether the defendants would “make themselves
available for trial and refrain from interfering with witnesses.”
He observed that the EFCC’s opposition, particularly on the
likelihood of the defendants jumping bail or influencing witnesses, was “not
concrete enough.”
He therefore ruled that he
was minded to grant the defendants “bail in the interest of justice.”
He granted each of the three defendants bail in the sun of N500
million, with two sureties in the same amount. It further ordered that the
sureties to be presented by the defendants must own verifiable properties in
Maitama or Gwarinpa areas of Abuja.
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The defendants were also
directed to deposit their passports with the court and must not travel outside
Nigeria without prior approval of the court.
Pending the perfection of their bail conditions, the defendants
are to remain at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja.
Meeting the bail conditions will end Mr Malami’s detention,
which has already lasted 31 days cumulatively in the custody of the EFCC and the
Correctional Centre in Kuje, Abuja.
The EFCC detained him from 8 December 2025 to 30 December 2025,
when the court transferred him to the Correctional Centre in Kuje, Abuja,
following his arraignment.
For his wife and son, they have spent 16 days in custody as of
Wednesday, having been first detained by the EFCC between 23 December and 30
December, when they were arraigned and subsequently remanded alongside Mr
Malami in prison.
Mr Malami, the AGF during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s
administration between 2015 and 2023, is standing trial alongside one of his
wives, Ms Bashir, and his son, Abdulaziz, on 16 counts of money laundering
involving about N8.7 billion.
In the charges, EFCC accused
them of retention of proceeds of unlawful activity and illegitimate acquisition
of assets with funds of suspicious origins.
They denied all 16 counts.
Defence lawyer Joseph Daudu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN),
had attempted to move an oral application for the defendants’ bail shortly
after they were arraigned on 30 December.
But the prosecution, represented by Ekele Iheanacho, also SAN,
opposed the request and asked for time to formally respond.
In a ruling, the judge held that allowing the oral application
would deny the prosecution its right to a fair hearing since the application
had been served with the written request.
He then ordered that the defendants be remanded to the Kuje
Correctional Centre.
The bail hearing was
eventually held on 2 January. At the hearing, defence lawyers argued that the
offences were bailable and urged the court to grant bail on liberal terms.
The EFCC opposed the
application, citing the gravity of the allegations and the risk of interference
with witnesses.
After their arguments, the judge adjourned the ruling on the
bail application until 7 January (today), prompting Kuje prison officials to
take Mr Malami, his wife and son back to prison.
Delivering the ruling on
Wednesday, the court considered various factors, including evidence available
against the accused, the likelihood of the availability of the accused to stand
trial, the nature and gravity of the case, the likelihood of the defendants
interfering with justice, and the likelihood of committing an offence while on
bail, among others.
Having “critically evaluated the evidence adduced by both
parties,” Mr Nwite said he was not “unmindful of the serious nature of the
offences and the attendant economic consequences to our country, Nigeria.”
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