UPDATED: Court remands Malami, son, co-defendant in prison

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday ordered the remand of former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN and two others at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja pending the hearing and determination of their written bail application slated for January 2, 2026.

Malami, Hajia Bashir Asabe, a staff of Ramadiya Property Limited and Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami were arraigned before Justice Emeka Nwite by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 16-count charge bordering on money laundering.

The former AGF and his co-defendants will remain in prison custody till January 2 next year, when their written bail application will be argued by their team of lawyers, led by Joseph Daudu, SAN.

UPDATED: FG arraigns ex-AGF Malami, two others on 16-count charge

Earlier in the proceedings, the defendants pleaded not guilty to the 16-count charge when read out to them in the open court, and the prosecution counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN pleaded with the court to set a date to commence trial in the matter.

He informed the court of the written application for the bail of the defendants served on him earlier on Tuesday morning and said, the prosecution needs time to respond to it.

Counsel to the three defendants, Joseph Daudu, SAN said while moving the bail application orally that, having read the 16-count charge and the law on the subject matter, it is a proper application to make orally, adding that the “Only condition where one needs a written application is where it is a capital offence.

“The offences of money laundering are bailable offences. The charges are not complicated, they are bailable, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty by the court”, he said and urged the court to admit them to bail.

The senior lawyer further told the court that Malami and his codefendants do not constitute a flight risk and that they have been under administrative bail of the EFCC until they were detained for the purpose of arraignment.

He reminded the court that the first defendant, Malami, who was an AGF and Minister of Justice for eight years, will not contemplate absconding in any way and prayed that they should be granted bail to enable them to prepare for their defence.

EFCC counsel opposed the oral application for the bail of the defendants, saying that Section 162 of ACJA listed factors to consider by the court before exercising discretion on bail application.

“Those factors can only come into the court through affidavit evidence, and to determine whether to grant bail or not, both the prosecution and the defence would be given the opportunity to state their facts and these facts belong to the witnesses.

“They do not belong to counsel. The law is trite that submission of counsel is not evidence and cannot replace evidence. This is a court of records. It will amount to a serious ambush against the prosecution and a sort of springing surprise to the prosecution which the court cannot condone”, Justice Nwite held.

Iheanacho said, the fact that the first defendant, Malami, who was a former AGF and Minister of Justice, is presumed innocent does not guarantee automatic bail and added that the presumption of innocence must be balanced against the interest of justice.

He said, “The charge before the court borders on alleged serious economic crimes, involving complex financial networks and it is a serious matter in the country. It affects Nigeria’s commitment in the fight against corruption; therefore, public interest has to be taken into account, so that this court will not be seen as indulging the first defendant because of his status and giving him preferential treatment.

“There is a need to balance public interest and the interest of justice in a matter of this nature,” Iheanacho submitted.

The judge who stood down the matter for a while before delivering a short ruling held that, it is not in dispute that written bail application has been filed for each of the defendants and had been served on the EFCC on Monday, and that, it is also not in doubt that the written bail application has not been withdrawn and as such, pending in the case file.

“What is surprising is the oral application made by the defence despite the pendency of the written bail application of the defendants before the court.

“It will amount to an ambush to the prosecution if the court grants the oral bail application without allowing the prosecution the opportunity to be heard. The interest of justice will be served if the prosecution is allowed to respond to that written bail application, as doing otherwise will amount to denial of fair hearing”, the judge held and adjourned till January 2 for hearing of the written bail application.

The defendants, the judge held, should be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre till the hearing date for the application for their bail.