EFCC witnesses tell court how millions of naira were sent to companies linked to Malami

Two witnesses of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have presented their testimonies in the ongoing trial of Abubakar Malami, former attorney-general of the federation (AGF) and minister of justice; his wife, Bashir Asabe; and son, Abdulaziz, at the federal high court in Abuja.

Malami, his wife, and son are facing a 16-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering, preferred against them by the EFCC. They had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

At the resumption of the hearing on Monday, the prosecutor called two witnesses, according to NAN.

Led in evidence by Jibrin Okutepa, the EFCC counsel, Simon Daniel Kwayil, a compliance officer with Union Bank, said in December 2025 his bank received a letter from the anti-corruption agency requesting the bank documents, statements of account and certificate of compliance with respect to account no. 0179011105, belonging to Meethaq Hotels Limited.

The documents were tendered as exhibits in the court.

The compliance officer said the sole signatory to the account is the second defendant — Malami’s wife — based on the resolution of the board of Meethaq Hotels Limited.

He told the court that about N48 million was electronically transferred from Meethaq Hotels Limited’s account to accounts linked to Abubakar Malami and A.A. Malami & Co. between February 2 and April 3, 2024.

The witness said Meethaq Hotels Limited’s statement of account showed millions of naira as inflows and outflows.

He added that between December 5, 2022, and April 14, 2023, the hotel received over N99 million as inflows into its account.

During cross-examination by Joseph Daudu, the defence counsel, the witness said no money was transferred into the accounts from any government agency.

Kwayil disclosed that he did not know the purpose of the transactions.

THE SECOND TESTIMONY

The prosecutor also called another witness, Olomotane Egoro, a compliance officer with Access Bank.

Egoro told the court that the EFCC requested certain documents, including account opening packages and statements of account for Agro Allied Limited and Khadimiya for Justice and Development Initiative, from Access Bank sometime in 2025.

The prosecutor sought to tender the documents as exhibits, but Malami’s counsel opposed the move on the grounds that Egoro was not a subpoenaed witness and did not make an extrajudicial statement to the EFCC.

The presiding judge overruled the objection.

The court ruled the prosecution had clearly stated in the list of witnesses that a representative of Access Bank was going to give evidence.

The documents were admitted as exhibits C1 and C2.

The witness told the court that Abdulaziz, Malami’s son, is the sole signatory of the account of Agro Allied Limited.

The banker said Agro Allied Limited took a loan of N400 million from the bank, adding that the amount was paid into the account on October 9, 2020.

He said N100 million was sent to New Horizon Ltd in five transactions of N20 million each, while on October 9, 2020, another N100 million was sent into the account of Rayhaan Bustan.

Egoro said the N400 million loan was fully paid on July 14, 2022.

Speaking on exhibit C2, the EFCC witness told the court that the account belongs to Khadimiya for Justice and Development Initiatives and that the signatories are Abdulaziz Malami, Usman Abubakar and Farouk Abubakar.

He said the total inflows into the account, beginning from October 17, 2019, to March 3, 2020, were N77.986 million, while the total lodgement into the account between March 26, 2020, and January 1, 2025, was N1.857 billion.

During cross-examination, Malami’s counsel asked the witness if he knew the purpose of the transaction; he said, “I did not know the purposes and objectives of the payments, my lord.”

The witness also said that he did not know the people who made payments into your account.

He, however, told the court that there was no inflow into the account from any government agency.

Joyce Abdulmalik, the presiding judge, adjourned the matter to April 29 for continuation of trial. (The cable)