EFCC Witnesses Unveil Bank Records Tying Malami’s Family To Multi-Million Naira Transactions

Fresh details emerged on Monday as the trial of former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, his wife Asabe Rakiya Bashir, and their son Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami continued at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is prosecuting the trio on an amended 16-count charge bordering on conspiracy, money laundering, and the alleged concealment of proceeds of unlawful activities amounting to N8.7 billion.

At Monday’s proceedings before Joyce Abdulmalik, the prosecution opened its case with bank officials who detailed a series of transactions linked to companies allegedly connected to members of the Malami family.
Union Bank Testimony

Testifying as the second prosecution witness, Daniel Simon Kwayil, a compliance officer with Union Bank of Nigeria, told the court that the bank received a request from the EFCC in December 2025 seeking documents relating to the account of Meethaq Hotels Limited.

According to him, the bank forwarded the company’s account opening documents, certificate of compliance and statements of account to investigators.

The court admitted the documents as evidence after the prosecution, led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria J.S. Okutepa, applied to tender them. Defence counsel Joseph B. Daudu, also a Senior Advocate, raised no immediate objection but reserved the right to challenge the documents later.
Kwayil drew the court’s attention to specific entries in the company’s account statement.

He said the records showed that on February 5, 2024, a payment of N14 million was transferred from Meethaq Hotels Limited to Abubakar Malami. Another transfer of N24 million was made to the former minister on March 4, 2024, he added.
The witness further told the court that on February 3, 2024, N24 million was transferred from the same account to A.A. Malami & Co, while a further N12.5 million was paid to A.A. Malami on May 3, 2024.
Kwayil testified that Asabe Rakiya Bashir was listed as the sole signatory to the Meethaq Hotels account. He identified her in the dock and said her identification documents formed part of the account opening records.
He also confirmed that the company’s account statements, spanning several pages, reflected numerous inflows and outflows between 2022 and 2025, including deposits from corporate entities such as YMB Energy Limited and other transfers running into millions of naira.

Under cross-examination, Kwayil told the court he was not the relationship manager for the account but had supervisory responsibilities over branches in Abuja, Niger and Nasarawa.

Asked whether he knew the purpose of the transactions reflected in the account statements, the witness replied:
“I don’t know because I’m not a party to the transactions.”

Access Bank Evidence

The prosecution also called Olomotane Egoro, a compliance officer with Access Bank Plc, as its third witness.
Egoro said the bank received a request from the EFCC in 2025 seeking records relating to two accounts: Rayhaan Bustan and Agro Allied Nigeria Limited and Khadimiyya for Justice and Development Initiative.
He said the documents supplied included account opening forms, identification records, loan documentation and statements of account.
The court admitted the documents in evidence as Exhibits C1 and C2 after an objection by the defence was temporarily set aside.

Reviewing the documents, the witness told the court that Abdulaziz Malami was listed as the sole signatory to the account of Rayhaan Bustan and Agro Allied Nigeria Limited.

According to him, the company received a N400 million loan facility which was disbursed on October 9, 2020 and fully repaid on July 14, 2022.
The witness said the same account recorded multiple transfers to New Horizon Limited on November 10, 2020, including N100 million, N10.57 million, and several other payments of N20 million each.

He also told the court that the loan disbursement attracted a N4 million management fee and N300,000 VAT, while interest liquidation of over N1.18 million was recorded shortly after.
Charity Account Transactions
Egoro further testified on the account of Khadimiyya for Justice and Development Initiative, stating that its signatories included Abdulkadir Malami, Usman Gotomo Abubakar, and Faruku Abubakar.
He told the court that the account received multiple deposits from individuals and companies between 2019 and 2023, including contributions from Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami, corporate payments from Afuwa Integrated Services Limited, and other deposits by various individuals.

According to the witness, the total lodgments into the Khadimiyya account during that period amounted to N722.99 million, while deposits into the Rayhaan Bustan account between March 2020 and January 2025 totalled N1.86 billion.
Under cross-examination, Egoro said he appeared in court after being invited by his bank at the request of the EFCC and not through a subpoena. He also said he had no knowledge of the purpose of the transactions reflected in the account statements.
Following the testimony, Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the case to April 20, 2026 for continuation of trial.