The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday, granted bail to former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, who is in custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over money laundering and suspicious wealth accumulation charges.
The judge Bello Kawu granted the former minister bail in the same conditions and terms the EFCC earlier imposed.
EFCC claimed on 14 December that Mr Malami had not met the bail five conditions, warranting his prolonged detention since 8 December.
But on Wednesday, Mr Malami’s media aide, Mohammed Doka, accused EFCC of refusing to release the ex-AGF despite the court-approved bail and fulfilment of the conditions attached to the bail.
In a statement posted on Mr Malami’s official Facebook page on Wednesday, Mr Doka said EFCC officials rejected the bail order issued by the FCT High Court on Tuesday.
“Following the clear and unequivocal court order granted by the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on 23 December 2025, admitting Abubakar Malami, SAN, to bail on already fulfilled conditions, officials of the EFCC were formally served with the court process,” the statement read.
“Rather than comply with the authority of the court,” the media aide said, “the Commission refused to accept the court-backed letter, chased away the bailiff, and insisted on the continued detention of Mr Malami in blatant defiance of the law.”
He did not explain what “the court-backed letter” meant.
The statement also criticised what it described as prolonged detention without arraignment and accused the EFCC of conducting a “media trial,” suggesting selective information was being fed to the press.
A summary of the court order showed that the judge granted bail to Mr Malami “on the already granted conditions by the EFCC”.
Dispute over bail conditions
The bail conditions imposed by EFCC have been a subject of dispute between the anti-graft agency and Mr Malami.
Mr Malami claimed in his application before the FCT High Court that he had met initial bail conditions the EFCC granted him on 28 November.
Before the EFCC allegedly revoked the bail, he said, the conditions attached to it which he claimed to have met were surrendering his passport and the bail bonds filed by his sureties – the Director general of the Nigerian Legal Aid Council and a server member of the House of Representatives representing Augie/Argungu Constituency of Kebbi State.
In the application filed and heard ex parte, Mr Malami sought an order granting him bail in the interim on terms of bail initially considered by the EFCC. He asked for the bail “on the grounds of exceptional hardship”.
He also sought an order reviewing and reactivating the bail.
Being an ex parte application, the bail request was heard by the judge in the absence of the adverse party – the EFCC. Only Mr Malami’s legal team was present to move the application.
Mr Malami first made the claim of the alleged revocation of his bail by the EFCC in a statement on 11 December.
The statement prompted a rebuttal from the EFCC.
In its statement it issued on 13 December, EFCC described Mr Malami’s claim as “patently false”.
It confirmed that, although Mr Malami was granted administrative bail on 28 November as he claimed, he never met any of the five conditions. The commission did not provide details of the conditions.
The said Mr Malami, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), was granted administrative bail on 28 November after a brief interrogation, pending the conclusion of investigations and possible arraignment.
“Administrative bail is a discretionary temporary reprieve that allows a suspect to be released on stated conditions pending the conclusion of investigation and arraignment in court,” he said.
According to the EFCC, the former minister was granted provisional bail subject to five conditions, none of which he had fulfilled as of the time he was re-invited on 8 December.
EFCC’s spokesperson who signed the statement, Dele Oyewale, said Mr Malami was expected to return for further interrogation on 1 December but later requested a deferment on health grounds through a letter dated 4 December.
“The commission compassionately granted his plea even while his bail conditions had not been met,” he said.
However, the EFCC said Mr Malami neither submitted a medical report nor provided any credible evidence to support his claim of ill health.
The spokesperson said the commission subsequently invited Mr Malami again on 8 December for further interrogation and detained him after he failed to meet the outstanding bail conditions.
The former minister has remained in custody.
Controversy persists
The court granted Mr Malami bail “on the already granted conditions by EFCC” on Tuesday after listening to his lawyers
The specific conditions were not captured in the court’s ruling.
The judge, after granting bail to the former minister, adjourned the matter until 5 January 2026, for the hearing of the motion on notice.
However, in the absence of those details in the ruling and lingering dispute between the EFCC and Mr Malami on the matter, the issue of which bail conditions were intended by the court remain controversial.
PREMIUM TIMES reached out to the EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, on Wednesday via phone regarding Mr Malami’s continued detention after the court order, but he declined to comment on the matter.
Mr Malami’s media aide said on Tuesday that “EFCC is currently detaining Abubakar Malami, SAN, solely on the strength of a High Court order that permitted his detention for a maximum period of fourteen (14) days, an order which expires today.”
READ ALSO: EXCLUSIVE: Documents identify N212.8bn properties traced to ex-AGF Malami amid EFCC probe (PHOTOS)
“Even without regard to the separate bail granted by another High Court of competent jurisdiction, the EFCC was legally obligated to either release him immediately or arraign him before a court today. It has done neither. This deliberate inaction is a further and damning confirmation of the EFCC’s vendetta, its blatant disregard for the rule of law, and its dangerous descent into tyranny and abuse of power.”
The statement accused EFCC of abandoning its statutory mandate and allowing “itself to be deployed as a tool of political persecution”.
“When an anti-corruption agency begins to disobey court orders, detain citizens indefinitely, and weaponise the media, it ceases to be an instrument of justice and becomes a threat to democracy itself,” he added.
It called on the judiciary “to take urgent notice of this open contempt of court.
It also urged relevant oversight bodies “to hold the EFCC accountable for its serial violations of the law” and “Nigerians of conscience to speak out against the dangerous precedent being set by the Commission’s actions.”
EFCC charges Malami, reveals multi-billion naira properties traced to ex-minister
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the EFCC had filed 16 counts against Mr Malami, his son, Abubakar Malami, and Bashir Asabe, an employee of Rahamaniyya Properties Ltd.
The charges include money laundering, concealment, and unlawful acquisition of proceeds of illegal activity. He allegedly committed the offences between 2015 and 2025, a period which include his eight years in office as the AGF during the administration of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Documents obtained by PREMIUM TIMES indicate that Mr Malami is linked to 41 properties across Kebbi, Kano, and Abuja, with a combined estimated value of N212.89 billion.
The properties included hotels, schools, factories, and residences.
The revelation came just days after EFCC raided Mr Malami’s homes and offices in Abuja and Kebbi State on 17 December.
He has consistently denied wrongdoing and is challenging the charges in court.
Mr Malami was detained by the EFCC on 8 December, in connection with a multi-billion-naira money laundering investigation.
The EFCC confirmed the operation but rejected claims that it was a raid.
Mr Malami served as Nigeria’s Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice from 2015 to 2023 under former President Buhari.
A founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he recently defected to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and has declared his intention to contest the 2027 governorship election in Kebbi State.
