The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday granted bail to former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, his wife and their son in the ongoing N9 billion money laundering case brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik admitted the three defendants to bail in the sum of N200 million each with two sureties in like sum.
The former AGF and his family members are standing trial on a 16-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering.
At Friday’s proceedings, defence counsel, Joseph Daudu, sought to move an application for bail for the defendants. However, the judge reminded the parties that she had earlier ruled that the court would first take the evidence of the prosecution’s initial witness before entertaining pending motions.
Following the ruling, the EFCC called its first witness, David Ajoma, a compliance officer with Sterling Bank.
Ajoma told the court that the bank received a request from the EFCC on December 2, 2025, seeking information on loan facilities granted to Rayham Hotel Limited.
According to him, the bank complied with the request and provided the relevant documents, including the account opening package, loan statements and other supporting records.
He explained that the loan facility granted to Rayham Hotel Limited was backed by cash collateral from Metropolitan Autotech, adding that both companies maintain separate accounts with the bank.
The witness also informed the court that the Metropolitan Autotech account is operated by a signatory identified as Hassan Aliyu.
Under cross-examination, Ajoma admitted that he was not the relationship manager for either of the accounts and therefore had limited knowledge of the transactions that passed through them.
He further told the court that the name of the former Attorney-General did not appear in the loan application documents presented by the prosecution.
According to the witness, the only name on the documents was Abdulaziz Malami, who signed as the Managing Director of Rayham Hotel Limited.
Ajoma also testified that the bank did not trace any of the transactions in the accounts to government sources, the Federal Ministry of Justice, or to Malami personally.
He added that based on the documents available to the bank, there were no transactions considered suspicious or in breach of regulations issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
After the witness concluded his testimony, the defence moved the bail application for the three defendants.
Counsel for the EFCC informed the court that the commission did not oppose the request but asked that strict conditions be imposed to ensure the defendants’ attendance throughout the trial.
In her ruling, Justice Abdulmalik granted bail to Malami, his wife and their son in the sum of N200 million each with two sureties in like sum.
The court directed that one of the sureties must provide a title document for a landed property located in either Maitama or Asokoro districts of Abuja.
The judge also ordered the defendants to deposit their international passports with the court registrar.
Pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions, the court ordered that the defendants be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service.
The case was subsequently adjourned to March 16 for continuation of hearing.
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