EFCC interview was about Abacha loot duplication allegation, not terrorism – Malami

The former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has insisted that his only interaction with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission was strictly limited to clarifications on an alleged duplication in the recovery of Abacha loot.

Malami stated that his engagement with the anti-graft agency had nothing to do with terrorism financing, money laundering or the ownership of multiple bank accounts.

In a statement issued by his media office on Wednesday, Malami dismissed the allegations circulating in some media platforms as “false, misleading and baseless,” insisting that “no security, intelligence or law-enforcement agency in Nigeria or abroad has ever accused, investigated or questioned me over terrorism financing or multiple bank accounts.”

He stressed that the EFCC had only invited him to clarify issues concerning the $310 million Abacha loot recovered during the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

He said, “My engagement with the EFCC was strictly limited to addressing concerns about an alleged duplication of the recovery process. That was the only issue they sought clarification on.”

Malami explained that the EFCC reviewed two assumptions — alleged abuse of office and alleged money laundering — but found no grounds to proceed after he provided detailed explanations.

“I comprehensively demonstrated to the EFCC that no duplication occurred because the funds were not lodged into the Federation Account before 2016. There was no completed recovery at the time,” he said.

He further pointed to Swiss lawyer Enrico Monfrini’s 2016 request for re-engagement as proof that the earlier recovery process had not been concluded.

Malami said the Buhari administration rejected Monfrini’s proposed $5 million upfront fee and success fee of up to 40 per cent, opting instead for Nigerian lawyers at a capped 5 per cent cost.

The senior advocate said the decision saved the country billions of naira, adding that different tranches of Abacha loot were recovered at separate times.

“The $322.5 million repatriated from Switzerland between 2017 and 2018 was deployed to the National Social Investment Programme under World Bank monitoring, while the $321 million returned from Jersey in 2020 was used for major infrastructure projects including the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, Abuja–Kano Road and the Second Niger Bridge,” he said.

Malami argued that attempts to conflate separate recoveries or portray them as duplicated were “deliberately misleading.”

“Efforts to twist the facts and present the recoveries as duplication are nothing but deliberate mischief,” he added.

He also addressed reports citing a retired military officer who was said to have accused him of terrorism financing.

According to the former minister, “the retired officer has publicly clarified that he never accused me of funding terrorism, but his clarification was overshadowed by sensational reporting.”

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Reiterating his contribution to Nigeria’s anti-corruption and anti-terror financing framework, Malami maintained that he played a central role in establishing the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and pushing for the 2022 AML/CFT laws that helped Nigeria exit the FATF grey list.

He urged Nigerians to disregard what his office described as a coordinated smear campaign.

“I remain confident that truth will prevail over political witch-hunt, misinformation and intimidation,” Malami stated.

ValidViewNetwork had reported that the EFCC had detained Malami after he failed to meet the bail conditions earlier granted to him.

A senior EFCC official, who confirmed the development on Tuesday, said the former minister would remain in custody until he fulfils the requirements.

“We arrested him for not meeting his bail conditions, and he will remain in our custody until he meets those conditions,” the official said.

Another EFCC source also confirmed Malami’s detention, noting that he is being investigated for multiple offences.

“He is presently in our custody. He was initially granted bail but did not meet the conditions. The offences against him are many. Presently, we are investigating him for 18 different offences. Some of them are money laundering, abuse of office and terrorism financing. We cannot put a figure to the amount involved now because we keep uncovering some of the deals as we investigate,” the source said.