Former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has categorically denied reports linking him to terrorism financing or money laundering, stating that his recent engagement with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was solely to clarify a potential administrative duplication in the accounting of $310 million in recovered Abacha loot. In a statement from his media office on Thursday, Malami labeled the more serious allegations as “false, misleading and baseless,” asserting that no agency anywhere has ever investigated him for terror funding or illicit accounts.
The situation began when the EFCC detained Malami on December 9 after he failed to meet bail conditions from an earlier invitation. A high-level EFCC source, speaking to PUNCH, stated that his custody was due to these unmet conditions and that probes encompassed “18 different offences” including abuse of office, money laundering, and terrorism financing.
“We cannot put a figure to the amount involved now because we keep uncovering some of the deals,” the source claimed. By December 11, Malami had spent a third night in detention, though his team insists the matter is being grossly exaggerated.
Malami, however, presents a far narrower scope for the interrogation. He asserts the EFCC only sought answers regarding the recovery of Abacha loot during the Buhari administration.
“My engagement with the EFCC was strictly limited to addressing concerns about an alleged duplication of the recovery process. That was the only issue they sought clarification on,” he said.
He explained that while the agency initially examined angles of abuse of office and possible laundering, these lines of inquiry were dropped after he provided a detailed timeline.
“I comprehensively demonstrated to the EFCC that no duplication occurred because the funds were not lodged into the Federation Account before 2016. There was no completed recovery at the time,” Malami added.
To substantiate his claim, he pointed to a 2016 letter from Swiss lawyer Enrico Monfrini, who previously handled the case, requesting to restart work. This, Malami argued, proved the initial recovery deal was not finalized. The Buhari administration subsequently declined Monfrini’s request for a $5 million upfront fee plus a success fee of up to 40%, opting instead to engage Nigerian lawyers for a flat 5% fee a move Malami stated saved the country billions.
The funds were recovered in separate tranches: $322.5 million from Switzerland between 2017-2018, which was channeled directly into the National Social Investment Programme under World Bank supervision, and a distinct $321 million from Jersey in 2020, which funded the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Abuja-Kano Road, and Second Niger Bridge.
“Efforts to twist the facts and present the recoveries as duplication are nothing but deliberate mischief,” Malami concluded.
Regarding the terrorism financing allegations, he attributed them to a misrepresentation of comments made by a retired military officer. Malami stated that the officer later clarified he never accused the former minister of such crimes, but this correction was buried by sensational headlines. He further reminded the public of his role in strengthening Nigeria’s legal framework against financial crime, including establishing the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and driving the 2022 Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) laws that ultimately removed Nigeria from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list in 2023.
The context of the Abacha loot recovery is extensive. Former military ruler Sani Abacha siphoned billions of dollars overseas during his regime from 1993 to 1998. Nigeria has recovered over $2 billion since 1999, with more than $1 billion returned during President Buhari’s tenure alone. The specific $310 million under scrutiny relates to a 2014 agreement with Switzerland that remained pending until finalized by Malami’s team. The EFCC’s fresh scrutiny reportedly began following whistleblower claims of overlapping reporting on the recovered sums.
Malami urged the public to disregard what he termed a “coordinated smear campaign.” “I remain confident that truth will prevail over political witch-hunt, misinformation and intimidation,” he stated. His office emphasized that no domestic or international agency has ever questioned him regarding terrorism financing or unexplained bank accounts.
