The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday granted bail to former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, his wife and their son in the ongoing N9 billion money laundering case filed against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The trio are facing a 16-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik.
At the resumed hearing, counsel to Malami, Joseph Daudu, attempted to move an application seeking bail for the defendants. However, the judge reminded the defence that the court had earlier ruled that all pending applications would be considered only after the prosecution’s first witness had testified.
The court subsequently directed the EFCC to proceed with its first witness.
The prosecution called David Ajoma, a compliance officer with Sterling Bank, who told the court he has worked with the bank for three years handling compliance requests from law enforcement agencies.
Ajoma testified that on December 2, 2025, the bank received a request from the EFCC asking for details of loan facilities granted to Rayham Hotel Limited.
According to him, the bank responded by providing the requested documents, including the account opening package, loan account statements and other supporting materials.
He further told the court that the loan facility granted to Rayham Hotel Limited was secured with a cash collateral from Metropolitan Autotech.
The witness explained that Metropolitan Autotech and Rayham Hotel Limited maintain separate accounts with the bank, noting that one Hassan Aliyu is the signatory to the Metropolitan Autotech account.
During cross-examination, Ajoma admitted that he was not the relationship manager for the accounts in question and therefore had no direct knowledge of the specific details surrounding transactions into the accounts.
He also confirmed that the name of Malami did not appear in the loan application documents presented in court.
According to him, the only name on the loan application was Abdulaziz Malami, who signed as Managing Director of Rayham Hotel Limited.
The witness further told the court that none of the transactions reviewed originated from any government account, the Federal Ministry of Justice, or from Malami personally.
Ajoma added that from the documents available to the bank, no suspicious transactions were detected and none of the reviewed transactions violated guidelines issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Following the witness’s testimony, the defence formally moved the application for bail for the three defendants.
The EFCC informed the court that it did not oppose the application but urged the judge to impose strict conditions to ensure the defendants would be available for trial.
Ruling on the request, Justice Abdulmalik granted bail to Malami, his wife and their son in the sum of N200 million each, with two sureties in like sum.
The court directed that one of the sureties must provide title documents for a landed property located in either Maitama or Asokoro districts of Abuja.
The judge also ordered the defendants to surrender their international passports to the court registrar.
Pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions, the court ordered that the defendants be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service.
Justice Abdulmalik thereafter adjourned the case until March 16 for continuation of the trial.