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By Lizzy Chirkpi
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has detained former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), after he failed to satisfy the bail conditions earlier granted to him.
A senior official of the commission confirmed on Tuesday night that Malami remained in EFCC custody as of 10:00 p.m. due to his inability to meet the requirements for his release.
According to the source, Malami is under probe for alleged money laundering and operation of suspicious bank accounts. The official also disclosed that the investigation covers the management of funds recovered from late military ruler, Gen. Sani Abacha, particularly those returned from Switzerland and Jersey, United Kingdom.
“We have detained him over terrorism financing and the whereabouts of Abacha loot recovered from Switzerland and the Island of Jersey in the UK,” the source stated.
The EFCC official added that Malami would not be released until he complies with the terms of his bail.
“We arrested him for not meeting his bail conditions, and he will remain in our custody until he meets those conditions. He is presently in our custody. He was initially granted bail but did not meet the conditions. The offences against him are many,” the source said.
Investigators have directed Malami to appear daily at the agency’s headquarters for questioning throughout December.
“Presently, we are investigating him for 18 different offences. Some of them are money laundering, abuse of office and terrorism financing. We cannot put a figure to the amount involved now because we keep uncovering some of the deals as we investigate,” the official revealed.
Malami has strongly rejected the allegations, describing them as politically motivated.
“During my tenure as Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, I worked with other arms of government and relevant institutions to strengthen—not weaken—Nigeria’s legal and institutional framework against money laundering and the financing of terrorism,” he asserted