Zainab Ali
Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami, has forcefully rejected recent media reports linking him to terrorism financing or the operation of 46 bank accounts, calling the allegations “false, misleading and entirely baseless.” He described the publications as a deliberate campaign of distortion meant to create scandal where no facts exist and urged the public to disregard what he characterised as a coordinated media trial built on misinformation.
In a statement by his media aide, Mohammed Bello Doka, Malami’s office clarified that no Nigerian or international security, intelligence or law enforcement agency, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has ever investigated or charged him for terrorism financing. It further stated that the retired military officer cited in some of the reports had explicitly denied ever accusing Malami of financing terrorism.
The statement highlighted Malami’s role in strengthening Nigeria’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing framework during his tenure as Attorney-General. Key reforms cited include the establishment of an independent Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the enactment of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022. These measures, the office noted, contributed to Nigeria’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.
According to the statement, Malami’s only engagement with the EFCC relates to questions over an alleged duplication in the recovery of the $310 million Abacha loot, which later rose to about $322.5 million with accrued interest. The EFCC reportedly raised issues bordering on alleged abuse of office and money laundering.
Malami’s office maintained that the claims were unfounded, explaining that asset recovery is only legally complete upon deposit into the Federation Account, which had not occurred as of 2016. It added that in December 2016, Swiss lawyer Enrico Monfrini—previously portrayed as having completed the recovery—formally applied to be re-engaged to recover the same funds, contradicting claims of prior completion.
The statement disclosed that Monfrini demanded an upfront payment of $5 million and a success fee of up to 20 percent, which were rejected in line with the Buhari administration’s policy against advance payments and excessive success fees. Nigerian lawyers were instead engaged on a 5 percent success-fee basis, a move said to have saved the country between ₦76.8 billion and ₦179.2 billion.
The office clarified that the Abacha loot recoveries were from separate tranches. The $322.5 million repatriated from Switzerland between 2017 and 2018 was deployed through the National Social Investment Programme, particularly for Conditional Cash Transfers, under the monitoring of the World Bank and civil society groups.
A separate tranche of about $321 million repatriated in 2020 from the Island of Jersey, with U.S. and Swiss participation, was earmarked for key infrastructure projects, including the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, Abuja–Kano Road and the Second Niger Bridge, under project-based monitoring arrangements.
Malami’s office accused the media of deliberately conflating the distinct recoveries and misrepresenting a cost-saving and transparent process as duplication.
The statement urged Nigerians to ignore what it described as sensational and misleading reports, expressing confidence that “truth, law and reason will always prevail.”