A Federal High Court in Abuja has admitted nine exhibits against former Attorney-General of the Federation Abubakar Malami, SAN, his wife, and son.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, presiding over the Maitama court on Monday, ruled in favour of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which tendered the documents in its ongoing case against the ex-minister and his family members.
The defendants—Malami, his wife Hajia Bashir Asabe, and son Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami—face an amended 16-count charge, including conspiracy, procuring, disguising, concealing, and laundering proceeds of unlawful activities totalling N8,713,923,759.49. The alleged offences contravene the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The documentary exhibits were presented through the fourth prosecution witness, Mashelia Arhyel Bata, a compliance officer at Zenith Bank Plc. Led by prosecution counsel J.S. Okutepa, SAN, Bata told the court he received EFCC correspondence requesting records for multiple accounts linked to the defendants and associated entities.
“I work as a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, Maitama branch. My duty includes receiving correspondence from law enforcement agencies and responding accordingly,” he said.
Bata confirmed the bank provided both soft and hard copies of documents for accounts belonging to the defendants and companies including Rayhaan Hotels Limited, Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited, Nashab Limited, Golden Age Global Ventures, and Rahamaniyya Properties Limited.
Despite an initial objection from defence counsel J.B. Daudu, SAN, who noted that “the dates are almost all in March,” the court admitted the documents—dated between July 19, 2024 and March 12, 2026—as Exhibits D1 to D9.
Under further examination by prosecution counsel Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, the witness detailed transactions from the exhibits. Exhibit D1 contained account opening documents and statements for accounts belonging to Abubakar Malami and A.A. Malami & Co, including naira and dollar accounts. One account statement spanned January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2023, with activity confirmed between 2015 and 2023.
Bata testified that total credits into one account between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2023 stood at N383,637,21.55, while credits from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2015 amounted to N560,506,465.12. Debits for the same periods were N384,322,120.85 and N571,891,174.08 respectively.
Further transactions included N194,791,608.00 from New Horizons Limited on November 11, 2020; N622,500,000.00 from Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited on June 24, 2022; two separate N250 million inflows from Rayhaan Hotels Limited on July 1 and July 7, 2022; and N500 million linked to Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited on December 22, 2022.
The witness identified numerous additional transactions running into billions of naira.
Defence counsel Daudu requested an adjournment to study the exhibits before cross-examination. Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the matter until May 13, 2026, for trial continuation.
