Former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has rejected the allegations leveled against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over the recovery of the $322.5 million Abacha loot, calling the claims “baseless, illogical, and lacking factual support.”
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According to reports, Malami—who appeared before the EFCC on Friday, November 28—was released after questioning and given new dates for further interrogation. The investigation focuses on alleged duplication in the recovery of the Abacha funds, along with accusations of abuse of office and money laundering.
In a statement on Sunday, Malami explained that the EFCC’s probe is based on the assertion that Swiss lawyer Enrico Monfrini had completed the recovery process before he took office in 2015.
He argued that the allegation collapses when compared with documented facts.
According to him, the recovery of illicit funds can only be deemed completed when the money is lodged into the Federation Account. He noted that as of 2016, when the Buhari administration revisited the matter, no such lodgement had been made.
Malami added that several lawyers, including Monfrini, applied in December 2016 to be engaged for the same recovery, an action he said contradicts the idea that the process had been concluded years earlier.
He explained that Monfrini requested a $5 million upfront payment and a 40 per cent success fee, later reduced to 20 per cent, terms the government rejected in line with its policy that no advance deposits should be paid and that fees must not exceed 5 per cent.
Malami said a Nigerian law firm was eventually appointed on a 5 per cent success fee, saving the country between 15 and 35 per cent of the recovered funds, amounting to tens of billions of naira at current exchange rates.
He also clarified that the Abacha recoveries handled under his tenure came in separate tranches:
$322.5 million repatriated from Switzerland between 2017 and 2018, deployed to Conditional Cash Transfers under the National Social Investment Programme, monitored by the World Bank and civil society groups;
$321 million repatriated from Jersey in 2020, earmarked for major infrastructure projects including the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, Abuja–Kano Road and the Second Niger Bridge.
Malami said attempts to conflate the tranches or suggest duplication do not reflect the facts.
He maintained that his actions as Attorney General were carried out “transparently and in the public interest,” insisting that the allegations against him lack any reasonable basis.
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