Abubakar Malami, the immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, has asserted that his interaction with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was strictly for the purpose of clarifying issues related to the recovery of the Abacha loot.
Malami firmly denied all other claims, specifically describing the allegations of terrorism financing and money laundering leveled against him as “false, misleading, and baseless.”
“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,” Malami said in a statement issued by his media office on Wednesday.
He emphasized that no security or law enforcement agency has ever accused him of terrorism financing or operating multiple bank accounts.
The EFCC had detained Malami after he failed to meet bail conditions, with investigations ongoing for 18 alleged offences, including money laundering, abuse of office and terrorism financing.
An EFCC source said: “We arrested him for not meeting his bail conditions, and he will remain in our custody until he meets those conditions”.
Malami explained that the EFCC reviewed two assumptions – alleged abuse of office and alleged money laundering – but found no grounds to proceed after he provided detailed explanations.
He cited Swiss lawyer Enrico Monfrini’s 2016 request for re-engagement as proof that the earlier recovery process had not been concluded.
The former minister highlighted his contributions to Nigeria’s anti-corruption and anti-terror financing framework, including establishing the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and pushing for the 2022 AML/CFT laws that helped Nigeria exit the FATF grey list.
“I remain confident that truth will prevail over political witch-hunt, misinformation and intimidation,” Malami stated.
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